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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGHS 

"  The  Valley"  of  Virginia—  Character  of  the  first  set 
tlers  in  the  neighbourhood 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

A  family  sketch — Origin  of  the  name  of  Abb's  Valley — 
An  Indian  battle — A  startling  incident 18 

CHAPTER  III. 

Qualities  of  the  pioneer  settler — Singular  Indian  remains 
— Incidents  of  savage  warfare — Captain  Moore's  es 
cape  from  the  British  dragoons , 28 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Dangers  of  the  settlers  from  Indian  incursions — One  of 
Captain  Moore's  sons  carried  into  captivity — Hard 
ships  encountered  on  his  journey — Religious  feelings 
of  the  young  captive — Is  purchased  by  a  French  tra 
der  and  carried  to  Canada — Communicates  his  situa 
tion  to  his  father's  family 39 

CHAPTER  V. 

Indians  reconnoitering— Captain  Moore's  house  attacked, 
and  he  slain — The  family  captured,  the  house  rifled, 

and  then  burned — Situation  of  the  house  described 

Vain  pursuit  of  the  Indians — Two   of  the  children 
murdered — Melancholy  journey  of  the  captives 61 

939862         (iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

The  captives  disposed  of — Mrs.  Moore  and  a  daughter 
murdered — Fortitude  and  piety  of  little  Mary  Moore 
• — The  whites  attack  the  Indian  towns  and  burn  them 
• — The  Indians  in  consequence  go  to  Canada  for  aid — 
Hardships 78 

CHAPTER   VII. 

James  Moore,  the  first  captive,  hears  of  his  sister  in 
Canada,  and  visits  her — Her  sad  condition 90 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Habits  of  the  settlers — Intelligence  of  the  massacre — 
Thomas  Evans  resolves  to  go  in  search  of  his  sister 
Martha,  who  had  been  made  a  captive  with  the  Moores 
• — His  solitary  journey,  his  courage  and  endurance — 
Various  perils  encountered — He  finds  his  sister 97 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  captives  make  arrangement  for  their  return  to  Vir 
ginia — Their  adventures  by  the  way — Meeting  with 
friends  after  the  separation  of  years 118 

CHAPTER  X. 

Subsequent  history  of  the  captives,  particularly  of 
Mary  Moore,  who  became  the  wife  of  a  clergyman  — 
Her  family ..  132 

CHAPTER  XL 

God's  faithfulness  to  his  promises  as  illustrated  in  the 
descendants  of  the  nhief  subject  of  these  sketehss...  158 


INTRODUCTION. 


"  TRUTH  is  stranger  than  fiction."  This  re 
mark  has  been  often  repeated,  and  the  history  of 
the  world  teems  with  incidents  that  show  its  cor 
rectness.  The  press  of  the  present  day  throws 
off  numberless  works  of  fiction  different  in  their 
character,  and  suited  to  the  various  tastes  of  those 
who  read.  In  this  little  volume  there  is  no  fic 
tion.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  gather  and 
arrange  the  incidents  in  the  lives  of  a  few  indi 
viduals  who  were  actors  in  scenes  of  no  common 
kind.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  more  efforts 
of  the  same  kind  have  not  been  made.  In  many 
sections  of  our  country,  occurrences  rich  in  in 
terest  have  been  lost  hopelessly,  by  the  death  of 
the  last  of  those  in  whose  memories  they  were 
treasured. 

In  various  ways,  imperfect  sketches  of  this  tale 

have  been   given  to  the  public.     The  attempt  to 

give  it  in  a  more  complete  form  than  any  in  *vhich 

it  has  appeared  heretofore,  has  been  icade  at  tJxa 

1*  (v) 


Vi  INTRODUCTION 

earnest  suggestion  of  those  in  whose  judgment 
the  writer  places  much  confidence ;  and  with  the 
hope  that  it  will  form  neither  an  unentertaining,  nor 
a  useless  addition  to  the  many  little  volumes  issu 
ing  from  the  press.  No  pains  have  been  spared 
to  make  the  narrative  accurate ;  and  while  it  is 
believed  that  all  the  leading  incidents  have  been 
given,  it  is  at  the  same  time  well  known  that  many 
of  the  details  which  would  have  added  no  little  to 
the  interest  of  the  work,  have  now  passed  beyond 
the  reach  of  recall. 

My  mother  never  gave  a  detailed  narrative  to 
any  person ;  but  on  the  contrary  always  showed  a 
disinclination  to  converse  on  the  subject.  Two 
attempts  were  made  to  secure  such  a  relation  from 
her.  The  first  was  by  my  father  some  months  after 
their  marriage.  The  effort  soon  brought  on  her 
such  a  paroxysm  of  grief,  that  it  was  abandoned ; 
and  never  again  attempted  by  him.  The  other 
was  made  by  her  oldest  son  during  her  last  ill 
ness;  and  he  soon  saw  that  it  was  exciting  her 
feelings  so  much,  that  he  dropped  the  subject. 
Those  who  follow  her  through  the  scenes  related 
in  the  following  pages,  will  not  be  surprised  that 
her  feelings  were  thus  excited  by  the  attempt  to 
recall  them,  and  tell  them  to  others. 

As  many  young  persons  whom   I  have  never 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 

seen,  and  who  never  will  see  me;  will  read  the 
narrative,  I  must  say  a  word  or  two  to  them. 
You  desire  to  be  great.  I  hope  you  may  be  all 
that  }Tour  best  friends  anticipate.  But  never  for 
get  that  the  first  step  towards  true  greatness  is  to 
be  good.  My  mother  once  repeated  to  me  with 
tones  of  voice,  and  an  expression  of  countenance 
which  I  never  can  forget,  and  I  repeat  it  to  you 
as  my  most  earnest  counsel — "  Remember  the 
God  of  thy  fathers,  and  serve  him  with  a  perfect 
heart  and  a  willing  mind.  If  thou  seek  him,  he 
will  be  found  of  thee,  but  if  thou  forsake  him, 
he  will  cast  thee  off  for  ever/' 


THE 

CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"  THE  Valley,"  as  the  expression  is  under 
stood  by  those  who  live  in  it,  denotes  the 
tract  of  country  in  Virginia  bounded  on  the 
east  by  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  on  the  west  by 
a  parallel  ridge,  called  in  most  of  its  extent, 
the  North  Mountain.  It  is  a  fine  agricul 
tural  district,  presenting  the  advantages  which 
result  from  a  soil  generally  fertile,  hills  and 
vales,  numberless  springs  of  pure  water  that 
never  fail,  streams  of  various  sizes  that  never 
go  dry,  luxuriant  forests,  a  climate  suited  t<? 
grains  and  grasses  in  great  variety,  and  emi 
nently  favourable  to  health.  Its  scenery  is 
not  surpassed  in  variety,  beauty,  or  grandeur 
by  many  districts  in  America.  From  the 
tops' of  its  mountains,  the  eye  rests  on  land 
scapes  lovely  bevond  description.  Here  may 

•(9) 


10         THE   CAPTIVES    OE   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

be  seen  in  one  view,  the  mountain,  the  hill, 
the  valley,  the  forest,  the  meadow,  the  cliffs, 
the  stream,  the  farm,  the  farm-house,  the  vil 
lage,  the  school-house,  and  the  church.  A 
moral,  industrious,  contented  population  dwell 
here  ;  intelligent,  yet  unostentatious  in  their 
habits  and  manners,  and  to  a  great  extent 
the  descendants  of  those  who  settled  in  this 
region  when  it  was  a  wilderness ;  and  who, 
while  contending  with  the  savage  for  this  fine 
country,  laid  the  foundation  of  literary  insti 
tutions,  and  formed  the  churches  which  have 
contributed  largely  to  make  the  population 
what  it  is. 

Many  a  dweller  in  other  sections  of  our 
happy  country  turns  his  thoughts  to  a  region 
far  from  his  home,  and  to  other  days ;  and 
exclaims — "  The  Valley  !  I  love  it  !  It  was 
the  home  of  my  youth  ;  and  in  it  are  the 
graves  of  my  fathers  !"  Peace  to  their 
memory.  They  were  a  God-fearing  and 
law-abiding  people,  because  they  strictly  kept 
the  Sabbath  holy,  and  reverenced  the  sanc 
tuary.  Dangers  they  met  with  undaunted 
firmness;  hardships  and  privations  with  un- 


THE  CAPTIVES  OP  ABB'S  VALLEY.    11 

repining  endurance.  The  right  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience,  and  the  advantages  of  education, 
they  prized  above  any  other  blessings  which 
earth  could  give.  To  secure  the  first,  they 
sought  a  dwelling  place  in  the  wilderness, 
far,  far  from  their  fatherland ;  and  for  the 
second,  they  relied  on  their  own  exertions 
under  the  blessing  of  God. 

The  first  settlers  in  this  valley,  with  few 
exceptions,  were  from  the  north  of  Ireland. 
They  were  the  descendants  of  the  Scotch, 
who,  for  various  reasons,  had  emigrated  to 
that  country,  and  had  taken  with  them  the 
kirk  and  the  school.  They  were  decided 
Presbyterians.  Deep  abhorrence  of  Popery, 
and  a  strong  dislike  to  Episcopacy,  were  to 
be  expected  amongst  those  whose  fathers  had 
felt  the  oppressions  and  cruelties  of  Claver- 
house ;  and  whose  friends  had  suffered,  and 
fought,  and  died  at  Londonderry. 

But  if  they  were  free  from  all  interfer 
ence  from  Popery  after  they  had  settled  in 
America,  they  did  not  find  the  same  relief 
from  Episcopacy  in  the  valley  of  Virginia 


12    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

The  Church  of  England  was  established  by 
law  in  the  colony,  and  its  ministers,  with 
some  bright  exceptions,  were  a  very  different 
class  of  men  from  those  who  now  officiate  in 
the  churches  of  that  denomination  in  the 
diocese  of  the  state.  If  they  had  possessed 
the  piety  which  all  who  know  their  successors 
award  to  them,  the  history  of  that  church 
in  Virginia,  and  the  moral  history  of  the 
state,  would  have  been  very  different  tales 
from  what  truth  compels  those  to  tell  who 
now  undertake  to  write  them.  Under  the 
management  of  those  men,  as  soon  as  Pres 
byterians  formed  settlements  in  portions  of 
territory  before  unoccupied,  parishes  were 
established,  and  the  attempt  was  made  to 
extend  over  them  the  authority  of  a  church 
to  which  they  felt  a  settled  repugnance. 
This  led  to  things  which  were  sometimes 
painful  and  sometimes  ludicrous.  An  ex 
ample  of  the  latter  is  presented  in  the  follow 
ing  incident,  which  tradition  tells  us  occurred 
in  what  is  now  Rockbridge  county.  A  cou 
ple  were  to  be  married  who  were  both  Pres 
byterians  ;  but  the  marriage  would  not  be 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY*    13 

legal  unless  the  rites  were  celebrated  by  a 
minister  of  the  established  church.  The 
minister  of  the  parish  was  applied  to,  and 
the  parties  presented  thorn  selves  before  him. 
All  went  on  as  usual,  till  the  minister,  with 
the  bridegroom  repeating  after  him,  came  to 
a  clause,  which  has  not  been  retained  in  the 
prayer-book  as  now  used  in  this  country,  in 
which  the  man  said  to  the  woman,  "  and  with 
my  body  I  thee  worship."  At  this  the  bride 
groom  ceased  repeating,  and  said,  "  I'll  nae 
say  that ;  it's  idolatry."  The  minister  re 
peated  the  clause,  and  the  man  firmly  refused 
to  respond.  All  was  thrown  into  confusion, 
and  the  couple  left  the  floor.  After  a  good 
deal  of  conference,  a  sort  of  compromise  was 
thought  to  have  been  arranged,  and  it  was 
understood  that  the  obnoxious  clause  would 
be  omitted  ;  but  in  the  progress  of  the  cere 
mony  it  was  again  read,  and  the  man  in 
stantly  said,  with  anger  flashing  in  his  eyes, 
"  I  towld  ye  I  wud'nt  say  that ;"  but  the 
clergyman,  without  seeming  to  notice  what  he 
said,  read  the  next  clause,  the  man  repeated 
it,  and  thus  the  matter  was  gone  through  with 
2 


14    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

As  an  Episcopal  church  was  built  in  eacli 
county  town,  the  Presbyterians  always  lo 
cated  their  places  of  worship  elsewhere. 
Hence,  there  is  not  in  the  Valley  any  village 
in  which  a  Presbyterian  church  was  built  till 
after  the  commencement  of  the  revolution. 
The  oldest  congregations  were  in  the  coun 
try  ;  and  not  a  few  of  the  churches  now  oc 
cupied,  stand  either  on  the  very  spot  where  the 
first  house  for  worship  was  built,  or  they  are 
near  it ;  and  in  every  case  the  burying-ground 
was  enclosed  near  the  church. 

Amongst  others,  in  passing  from  Staunton 
to  Lexington  along  the  road  leading  through 
Brownsburg,  about  twenty-two  miles  from 
Staunton,  the  traveller  will  notice  a  brick 
church  a  few  hundred  yards  on  his  right,  and 
near  it  a  large  graveyard,  almost  filled  with 
the  graves  of  the  generations  who,  for  more 
than  a  century,  have  assembled  there  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath  to  worship  God.  The 
house  that  is  now  occupied,  is  the  third  in 
which  the  congregation  of  New  Providence 
have  worshipped.  The  first  was  a  wooden 
structure,  and  stood  a  short  distance  east  of 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    15 

where  the  road  to  the  church  crosses  tho 
creek.  The  second  was  of  stone,  and  occu 
pied  in  part  the  ground  that  is  covered  hy 
the  present  building.  This  house  was  built 
either  in  1745  or  1746.  It  was  an  era  of  no 
little  consequence,  and  a  work  of  no  little 
difficulty  to  the  people  who  accomplished  it. 
Some  of  the  traditions  of  the  congregation 
will  illustrate  this.  At  that  time  there  was 
but  one  vehicle  that  moved  on  wheels  in  the 
congregation,  and  it  was  a  one  horse  cart. 
The  heavy  timbers  for  the  roof  and  galleries 
were  dragged  to  the  place  with  one  end  rest 
ing  on  the  axle  of  the  cart,  and  the  other  on 
the  ground.  The  wheels  gave  way  under  the 
weight  of  the  last  one,  and  the  people  col 
lected  and  carried  it  nearly  a  mile. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  year  the  church  was 
built,  the  pastor,  in  visiting  through  his  charge, 
took  dinner  on  one  occasion  with  a  family, 
by  no  means  amongst  the  poorest  in  the  con 
gregation.  When  all  were  seated  at  the  ta 
ble,  it  was  seen  that  there  was  not  both  a  knife 
and  a  fork  for  each  plate.  The  mother  of 
the  family  in  making  an  apology,  told  him 


16    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY. 

that  they  had  saved  money  to  buy  a  set  of 
knives  and  forks ;  but  since  the  church  was 
commenced,  they  had  given  it  to  that  object, 
and  must  do  without  them  till  the  next  year. 

The  sand  used  in  plastering  the  house  was 
carried  in  sacks  on  horseback  about  ten  miles ; 
and  this  was  done  chiefly  by  the  girls  of  the 
congregation.  There  are  those  now  living 
who  know  that  their  grandmothers  assisted 
in  this.  There  was  then  no  Committee  on 
Church  Extension  to  aid  feeble  congrega 
tions  in  building  houses  of  worship,  arid  with 
the  spirit  which  animated  these  people,  few 
churches  in  our  country  would  ask  for  aid. 

The  first  pastor  of  this  church  was  John 
Brown,  whose  field  of  labour  extended  over 
the  principal  part  of  the  territory  which  is 
now  embraced  by  the  counties  of  Rockbridge 
and  Augusta.  The  people  at  that  period 
were  not  unfrequently  disturbed  by  alarms 
of  Indians ;  and  often  the  whole  of  a  family 
would  go  to  church  on  the  Sabbath,  because 
they  dared  not  leave  any  at  home.  The 
father  and  sons  carried  their  weapons  with 
them,  prepared  to  defend  their  lives ;  and  a 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.         17 

large  number  of  armed  men  were  frequently 
seen  at  the  church.  On  one  occasion,  a 
musket  which  had  been  placed  in  an  inse 
cure  position  fell,  and  was  discharged  by  the 
fall,  during  the  progress  of  public  worship. 
The  first  thought  was  that  the  gun  had  been 
fired  by  an  Indian ;  and  the  assembly  was 
at  once  in  a  state  of  perfect  confusion,  until 
the  matter  was  explained.  Mr.  Brown  con 
tinued  his  labours  as  the  pastor  of  that  church 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  then  removed 
to  Kentucky. 

Near  the  upper  end  of  the  burying-ground 
is  a  marble  head-stone,  the  inscription  on 
which  tells  that  it  marks  the  grave  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Brown,  who  died  October  13th,  1818. 
He  was  the  second  pastor  of  that  church. 
Close  beside  this  grave,  stands  another  mar 
ble  slab,  the  inscription  on  which  tells  that 
it  marks  the  grave  of  Mary,  wife  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Brown.  The  latter,  and  her  father's 
family,  are  the  subjects  in  the  melancholy 
legend  of  Abb's  Valley. 
2* 


CHAPTEK  II. 

WHEN  God  formed  the  covenant  with  Abra 
ham,  he  said  to  him,  "  I  will  be  a  God  to  thee 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee."  In  the  epistle 
to  the  Galatians  we  are  taught,  "that  thej 
which  are  of  faith,  the  same  are  the  children 
of  Abraham,"  and  "are  blessed  with  faith 
ful  Abraham."  In  the  following  pages  an 
instance  of  God's  faithfulness  in  fulfilling 
his  covenant  will  be  presented ;  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  many  equally  plain  might  be 
furnished,  if  the  proper  steps  were  taken  to 
collect  the  facts.  The  following  genealogical 
sketch  is  designed  to  aid  in  illustrating  the 
point. 

About  the  year  1726,  James  Moore  and 
his  brother  Joseph,  left  Ireland,  and  settled  in 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania.  Joseph  died 
in  1728,  whilst  engaged  in  preparing  for  the 
ministry.  James,  married  Jane  Walker,  a 
descendant  of  the  Rutherfords  of  Scotland. 
(18) 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    \ALLEY.         19 

The  family  Bible  which  was  brought  by  the 
Walkers  from  Ireland,  having  in  it  the  register 
for  several  generations,  was  in  the  possession 
of  some  of  their  descendants,  since  the  com 
mencement  of  the  present  century.  It  may 
still  be  in  existence  somewhere  in  Kentucky  ; 
and  if  so,  is  either  in  the  possession  of  some 
one  bearing  the  name  of  Walker,  or  whose 
ancestors  bore  that  name.  John  Walker  and 
his  son-in-law,  James  Moore,  left  Pennsyl 
vania  and  settled  in  Rockbridge  county,  Vir 
ginia,  near  the  Jump  Mountain.  James 
Moore  died  about  1792,  and  his  wife  some  two 
years  after  him.  They  were  both  buried  in  a 
graveyard  near  to  where  they  had  lived.  No 
stone  marks  the  grave  of  either,  for  it  was 
not  until  a  later  period  that  the  custom  of 
marking  particular  graves  in  that  way,  was 
introduced  into  that  part  of  the  country. 
Their  memorial  is  written  on  more  lasting 
monuments  in  the  character  of  their  de 
scendants. 

Their  family  consisted  of  five  sons  and  five 
daughters.  From  them  have  descended  Moores 
in  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  quite  numerous : 


20         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

(the  oldest  grandson  was  for  some  time  one  of 
the  teachers  in  Transylvania  University)  Pax- 
tons,  Stuarts,  McPheeters,  Coalters  of  Vir 
ginia  and  South  Carolina,  Walkers,  Steeles, 
Harrisons,  with  many  other  names  in  the 
second  generation ;  and  in  succeeding  gen 
erations  far  too  many  either  to  be  followed 
out  or  enumerated.  With  the  aid  of  a  family 
sketch  prepared  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen 
tury,  the  writer  of  this  volume  has  been  able 
to  identify  many  who  have  descended  from 
James  Moore.  With  gratitude  to  God  he 
here  records,  that  wherever  he  has  found 
them,  in  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  genera 
tion,  he  has  found  them  the  servants  of  God. 
The  sixth  child  and  second  son  of  James 
Moore  bore  the  name  of  his  father.  He 
married  Martha  Poage,  whose  parents  lived 
about  nine  miles  south  of  Lexington  on  the 
road  leading  to  the  Natural  Bridge ;  and 
after  his  marriage  resided  some  years  at  a 
place  on  the  same  road,  which  was  known  for 
many  years  as  Newel's  Tavern.  From  this 
place  he  removed  to  the  county  of  Mont 
gomery,  and  after  a  residence  of  only  two  or 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ALP/S    VALLEY.         21 

three  years  there,  fixed  his  house  in  Abb's 
Valley,  in  Tazewell  county.  This  valley  gets 
its  name  from  Absalom  Looney,  who  is  sup 
posed  to  have  been  the  first  white  man  that 
visited  it.  It  was  in  about  1766  that  the  white 
man  first  saw  this  section  of  the  country.  A 
company  of  hunters  is  said  to  have  spent 
several  months  in  the  mountains  and  valleys 
immediately  around  where  Jeffersonville,  the 
county-seat,  now  stands.  In  the  following 
year  some  of  this  party  returned,  accom 
panied  by  several  others;  and  at  the  end  of 
the  hunt,  two  or  three  of  them,  instead  of  re 
turning  as  they  had  designed  when  they  left 
home,  remained  with  the  view  of  making  pre 
paration  for  the  removal  of  their  famili^, 
and  a  permanent  location  there.  Tradition 
tells  that  the  first  corn  raised  here  by  the 
white  man,  was  planted  in  1767  or  1768.  In 
two  or  three  years  after  this,  there  were 
several  families  who  had  fixed  their  homes  in 
the  various  inviting  valleys.  The  names  of 
Bowen,  Harman,  Carr,  Witten,  Butler,  Peery 
and  Bradshaw,  are  identified  with  the  tradi 
tions  of  frontier  life  in  this  region. 


22    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

It  was  in  the  summer  that  the  first  cabins 
were  built  here,  that  the  Cherokee  and  Shaw- 
nee  Indians  had  a  bloody  battle  in  these 
mountains.  A  band  of  the  former  tribe  had 
formed  a  summer  encampment  near  one  of 
the  licks  which  was  much  frequented  by  the 
deer  and  the  elk,  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
advantage  which  it  afforded  in  killing  these 
animals.  This  party  is  said,  to  have  num 
bered  about  two  hundred  men.  A  short  time 
after  they  had  encamped  ther>',  a  larger  band 
of  Shawnees  came  to  the  came  neighbourhood, 
to  occupy  the  same  hunting-ground,  and  ^ent 
a  messenger  to  the  Cherokees  with  an  i>  suit 
ing  .  order  to  leave.  lie  was  sent  bacK  with 
a  defiance,  and  both  parties  prepared  for  bat 
tle.  The  Cherokees  took  their  statjon  on 
the  top  of  a  ridge,  and  constructed  a  rude 
breast-work,  behind  which  they  awaited  the 
attack  of  their  foes.  The  batcie  commenced 
early  in  the  morning,  and  lasted  until  night 
put  an  end  to  it ;  and  was  renewed  the  next 
day.  The  Shawnees  found  that  they  could 
not  dislodge  their  enemies,  and  towards  noon 
drew  off  and  abandoned  the  effort.  A  truce 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB?S  VALLEY.    23 

followed ;  both  united  in  burying  the  dead  in 
one  common  grave,  and  then  retired  to  their 
homes  ;  one  to  the  south,  and  the  other  across 
the  Ohio.  There  were  two  or  three  hunters 
in  the  immediate  vicinity,  who  witnessed  this 
last  conflict  of  the  red  men  in  this  favourite 
hunting-ground. 

The  valley  in  which  Mr.  Moore  fixed  his 
residence  is  about  ten  miles  long,  and  from 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  to  three-fourths  wide  ; 
and  though  not  deficient  in  water,  there  is  no 
stream  that  runs  along  it,  or  across  it.  The 
rivulets  that  come  down  the  mountains,  and 
the  springs  that  rise  at  their  base,  sink  at  the 
edge  of  the  bottom,  and  burst  out  in  a  -large 
spring  near  the  lower  end  of  the  valley. 
When  the  white  man  came  here,  he  found 
the  valley  in  some  parts  destitute  of  any 
forest  growth,  and  clothed  with  luxuriant 
grass  ;  in  other  portions  there  were  dense 
thickets  of  red  haw,  crab-apple,  and  the  other 
shrubs  which  generally  are  found  growing 
with  them.  It  is  a  limestone  country,  and 
the  mountain  sides  were  covered  with  a  mag 
nificent  forest  growth,  under  whose  shade  the 


24    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

•wild  pea,  that  most  nutritious  vine  amongst 
the  native  herbage  of  our  country,  in  which 
cattle  delight  more  than  in  the  rich  clover  of 
cultivated  fields,  and  other  herbs  sprang  up 
in  wild  luxuriance.  It  was  a  quiet,  secluded 
spot,  the  very  paradise  of  the  hunter  and 
grazier.  In  the  summer,  stock  required  little 
attention,  and  in  the  winter,  there  were  but 
few  occasions  for  feeding  them.  The  grass 
which  had  grown  up  in  the  thickets,  and 
which  was  sheltered  from  the  frost,  and  the 
browse  on  the  hill  sides,  furnished  them  abun 
dant  subsistence.  The  bear,  the  deer,  and 
the  elk  were  there  in  great  numbers  ;  besides 
smaller  game  in  variety  and  abundance. 
Everything  that  an  Indian  or  a  hunter  would 
ask  for  was  found  there  ;  the  hand  of  in 
dustry  alone  was  needed  to  add  the  comforts 
of  civilized  life,  to  the  rich  plenty  of  native 
production. 

Mr.  Moore's  attention  was  turned  to  this 
spot  by  a  kinsman  of  his,  who,  having  visited 
the  south-western  part  of  Virginia  to  procure 
ginseng,  had  traversed  this  valley  and  some 
of  the  mountains  and  valleys  near  it.  From 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.         25 

his  representations,  Mr.  Moore  took  an  ex 
ploring  tour,  and  selected  this  as  the  place 
for  his  future  abode.  Many  considerations 
united  their  influence  in  leading  to  this  step. 
The  advantages  which  the  place  presented 
were  many,  and  in  his  estimation  very  great. 
It  was  out  of  the  usual  track  of  the  Indians ; 
none  of  them  lived  near ;  stock  could  be 
raised  with  very  little  trouble ;  the  climate 
was  fine ;  the  soil  fertile ;  game  abundant ; 
and  ginseng  could  be  obtained  in  large  quan 
tities.  Some  other  families  had  established 
themselves  in  the  same  region ;  the  attention 
of  many  others  had  been  turned  thither ;  and 
it  was  probable  that  in  a  few  years  the  num 
ber  of  settlers  would  be  much  increased. 

In  making  arrangements  to  take  his  family 
there,  he  went  out  in  the  spring  accompanied 
by  some  labourers,  built  u,  cabin,  planted  a 
crop,  and  left  an  Englishman  named  Simpson, 
who  had  been  an  indented  servant  in  his 
family  and  was  then  free,  but  still  remained 
in  his  employment,  to  cultivate  the  crop  and 
enclose  more  land  during  the  summer.  Simp 
son's  situation  was  lonely  in  the  highest  de- 
3 


26         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY. 

gree.  The  nearest  family  was  distant  from 
him  more  than  ten  miles,  with  more  than  one 
mountain  ridge  intervening,  over  which  there 
was  not  even  a  path.  On  one  occasion,  a 
man  from  the  Bluestone  settlement  spent  a 
couple  of  days  with  him,  and  on  the  third 
day  they  agreed  to  take  a  hunt ;  but  a  thick 
fog  coming  on,  they  both  got  bewildered  in 
the  woods.  Late  in  the  evening  Simpson 
found  his  way  into  the  valley,  and  reached 
his  cabin  after  night.  The  other  man  spent 
the  night  in  the  woods,  and  the  next  day 
went  back  to  Bluestone.  Some  time  after 
night,  Simpson  heard  what  he  thought  must 
be  the  voice  of  a  man  calling  to  him  from 
the  other  side  of  the  valley.  He  answered, 
and  the  call  was  repeated.  It  was  extremely 
dark,  and  he  had  no  light  in  the  house.  Sup 
posing  it  to  be  his  guest  of  the  previous 
night,  he  shouted,  "  I'll  make  a  light  and 
come  to  you;"  and  going  into  his  cabin  he 
lighted  some  pieces  of  split  pine.  Shelter 
ing  the  blaze  from  the  wind  with  the  skirt  of 
his  hunting  shirt,  he  started  towards  the  spot 
from  which  the  voice  had  proceeded.  When 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.        27 

he  got  pretty  close  to  the  edge  of  the  thicket, 
he  threw  aside  the  covering  of  his  light,  and 
holding  up  his  torch  called  aloud,  "  Where 
are  you?"  Just  as  he  uttered  the  words,  a 
wild  terrific  scream  was  heard  a  few  yards 
from  the  spot  where  he  was  standing,  and 
some  large  animal  dashed  through  the  bushes, 
evidently  very  much  frightened.  He  then 
discovered  that  he  had  been  visited  by  a 
panther,  and  that  his  torch  had  saved  him 
from  being,  torn  to  pieces  by  it.  With  no 
other  incident  worth  notice,  the  months  of 
his  solitary  life  passed  away ;  and  about  the 
middle  of  autumn  Mr.  Moore  removed  his 
family  to  the  valley.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  brother-in-law,  Robert  Poage,  and  Mr. 
Looney,  who  has  been  before  mentioned,  who 
each  had  a  small  family.  These  three  fami 
lies  fixed  their  dwellings  a  mile  or  two  from 
each  other,  and  for  some  years  no  other  family 
resided  in  Abb's  Valley.. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  frontier  man  and  the  frontier  family 
of  the  period  to  which  this  narrative  refers, 
are  amongst  the  things  of  bygone  days. 
Few  specimens  of  them  are  now  to  be  found. 
It  was  necessary  that  the  head  of  the  family 
should  be  hardy,  fearless,  capable  of  endur 
ing  labour  and  exposure  without  injury,  and 
able  by  day  or  by  night  to  find  his  way 
through  the  forest  with  the  certainty  which 
characterizes  the  wolf  or  the  Indian.  Fami 
liarity  with  the  use  of  the  rifle  and  the  toma 
hawk,  was  scarcely  considered  an  accomplish 
ment.  It  was  necessary  that  every  man 
should  possess  them.  He  did  not  know  at 
what  moment  all  his  skill  would  be  called 
into  requisition  in  defending  his  cabin  against 
the  attack  of  the  Indian.  Some  knowledge 
of  several  different  trades  was  deemed  essen 
tial  in  each  household.  Tools  of  the  car 
penter,  the  blacksmith,  the  tanner,,  the  shoe- 
(28) 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY.        29 

maker  and  the  cooper,  must  be  possessed  and 
used.  A  young  woman  who  did  not  know 
how  to  spin,  dye,  weave,  and  make  into  gar 
ments  the  cloth  that  her  own  hands  had  pro 
duced,  stood  little  chance  of  finding  any  man 
who  would  ask  her  to  be  his  helpmeet. 
Each  family  formed  a  sort  of  independent 
community,  relying  on  its  own  exertions  to 
supply  its  own  wants.  Owing  to  their  iso 
lated  position,  the  advantages  of  schools  were 
enjoyed  to  a  very  limited  extent ;  but  educa 
tion  was  not  wholly  neglected.  By  the  per 
severing  efforts  of  the  parents,  all  were  taught 
to  read  and  write ;  the  boys  were  taught 
arithmetic,  and  on  the  Sabbath  the  Bible 
and  the  Catechism  were  carefully  studied  in 
many  families.  Such  a  man  was  James 
Moore,  such  a  woman  was  his  wife  Martha, 
and  such  a  family  was  his  likely  to  be  in 
Abb's  Valley. 

If  they  formed  an  isolated  community, 
there  is  full  evidence  that  a  dense  population 
had  at  one  time  occupied  this  valley.  Near 
the  place  where  Mr.  Moore  built  his  cabin, 
there  are  found  clear  indications  of  an  Indian 
" 


30         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

village.  The  stone  hatchets,  flint  arrow-heads, 
and  broken  pieces  of  their  rude  pottery  have 
been  found  there  in  abundance.  But  beside 
these,  there  are  found  in  the  country,  caves 
that  seem  to  have  been  either  places  for  de 
positing  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  or  of  depos 
iting  their  bones  after  the  flesh  had  decayed. 
It  is  said  that  some  of  these  bones  are  of  an 
extraordinary  size,  and  some  have  supposed 
that  they  belong  to  an  extinct  race  that  once 
dwelt  in  this  region.  Of  the  great  numbers 
of  skeletons  in  these  caves,  some  idea  may 
be  formed  from  the  following  remarks,  written 
in  1849,  by  a  gentleman  who  had  passed 
through  the  country.  "  There  is  in  Taze- 
well  a  cave,  discovered  not  many  years  since, 
which  contains  a  large  number  of  human 
bones.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  give  the 
dimensions  of  the  cave,  as  this  would  enable 
us  to  form  some  estimate  of  the  number  of 
skeletons  it  contains.  I  was  not  informed 
of  its  existence  until  after  I  had  left  its 
vicinity.  This  is  my  only  apology  for  failing 
to  examine  in  person  this  gloomy  cavern  of 
the  dead.  When  first  discovered,  the  cave's 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    31 

mouth  was  walled  up  with  stones,  on  the  re 
moval  of  which  the  entrance  was  easy.  One 
who  had  been  in  it,  told  me  it  was  crammed 
with  bones  filled  up  all  around.  Many  of  the 
skulls  and  other  bones  were  whole  at  that 
time.  His  impression  was  that  there  had 
been  tons  of  bones  in  it." 

If  this  had  been  a  favourite  hunting-ground, 
or  a  favourite  residence  of  the  Indians,  and 
the  sepulchres  of  their  fathers  were  there,  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  that  those  who  first 
settled  there  did  not  find  it  a  safe  home. 
Almost  every  year,  and  often  more  than 
once  in  the  year,  they  were  alarmed  by  re 
ports  that  the  savages  were  approaching. 
From  the  threatening  danger  they  took  re 
fuge  by  going  to  other  settlements  where  there 
were  blockhouse  forts,  and  returned  when  it 
was  supposed  the  danger  existed  no  longer.' 
An  incident  or  two  gathered  from  tradition 
will  show  the  dangers  that  attended  their 
situation. 

Mr.  Poage,  the  nearest  neighbour  of  Cap 
tain  Moore,  was  a  blacksmith.  On  one  occa 
sion  three  men  had  gone  from  the  settlement 


32         THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY*. 

on  Bluestone,  to  get  some  work  done  at  his 
shop ;  and  as  he  was  unable  to  finish  it  that 
day,  they  had  to  spend  the  night  at  his  house. 
Some  time  after  dark  they  all  noticed  what 
seemed  to  be  an  unusually  frequent  noise  of 
the  screech  owl.  One  of  the  men  remarked 
rather  carelessly,  that  it  did  not  seem  to  him 
to  be  exactly  the  noise  of  the  owl,  and  he 
would  not  be  surprised  if  it  was  made  by  In 
dians  ;  but  the  suggestion  did  not  seem  to 
excite  any  apprehension,  and  they  all  went 
to  bed.  A  short  time  after  midnight,  the 
door  was  burst  open.  The  men  sprang  to 
their  guns,  and  one  of  them,  by  mistake,  got 
hold  of  the  gun  which  belonged  to  another 
man,  and  had  a  double  trigger.  He  placed 
the  muzzle  against  the  breast  of  an  Indian, 
and  in  the  attempt  to  discharge  it,  broke  both 
triggers,  and  the  savage  escaped.  Finding 
that  there  were  several  men  in  the  house, 
they  made  no  further  attempts  to  enter  it, 
and  after  some  time  went  away. 

Early  the  next  morning,  a  young  man, 
whose  name  was  Richards,  left  Captain 
Moore's  house  to  place  some  deer  skins  in 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    33 

soak  preparatory  to  dressing  them.  Although 
he  was  going  only  a  few  hundred  yards,  he 
took  his  rifle  with  him,  remarking  that  he  might 
see  a  deer ;  and  if  they  heard  him  shoot  and 
call  aloud,  some  of  them  must  come  and  bring 
the  dogs.  A  short  time  after  he  left,  the 
report  of  a  rifle  was  heard,  and  immediately 
Ws  voice  was  recognized.  Supposing  it  to 
be  the  signal  for  the  dogs,  one  of  the  family 
started  with  them,  and  soon  found  Richards 
shot  through  the  body,  his  head  gashed  with 
the  tomahawk,  and  the  scalp  torn  off.  He 
died  in  the  course  of  the  day.  Mr.  Moore 
immediately  mounted  a  horse,  and  rode  ra 
pidly  to  Mr.  Poage's  to  warn  them  of  dan 
ger,  and  from  them  learned  what  had  taken 
place  the  preceding  night.  The  three  fami 
lies  living  near  to  each  other,  Moore's,  Poage's 
and  Looney's,  went  to  the  fort  on  Bluestone 
that  day.  Mr.  Poage  never  took  his  family 
back,  but  sold  out  to  Mr.  Moore,  and  re 
turned  to  R-ockbridge.  Mr.  Looney  remained 
but  a  short  time  longer,  and  by  his  removal 
only  one  family  was  left  in  that  part  of  the 
valley. 


84    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  those  who  are  un 
acquainted  with  the  fascinations  of  frontier 
life,  that  Capt.  Moore  did  not  follow  the  ex 
ample  of  his  neighbours  ;  and  that  in  the  face 
of  so  many  real  dangers,  and  after  so  many 
warnings  of  them,  he  still  continued  to  reside 
in  the  valley.  It  is  indeed  difficult  for  those 
who  have  spent  their  lives  where  they  never 
have  thought  for  a  moment  that  they  were  in 
danger,  either  from  wild  beasts  or  savage 
men,  to  understand  how  it  was  possible  that 
either  he  or  his  family  could  feel  at  ease  for 
a  day.  But  from  his  childhood  he  had  been 
familiar  with  these  dangers,  and  his  wife  as 
well  as  himself  had  grown  up  in  the  midst  of 
them.  During  i.luit  part  of  the  year  in  which 
they  were  most  liable  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
Indians,  he  always  had  hired  labourers  in  his 
family,  each  of  whom  was  as  familiar  with 
the  rifle  as  with  his  right  hand  All  had 
lived  from  infancy  in  the  midst  of  dangers, 
and  being  accustomed  to  meet  difficulties  of 
every  kind,  every  one  possessed  .1  determined 
self-reliance  which  could  meet  without  dismay 
anything  that  might  happen.  Familiarity 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.         35 

vrith  danger  hardens  the  mind  against  its 
terrors.  Families  live  in  habitual  cheerful 
ness  on  the  sides  of  Etna  and  Vesuvius,  al 
though  they  know  that  the  bowels  of  these 
mountains  are  molten  masses,  and  that  at 
any  moment  fiery  torrents  may  stream  down 
their  sides. 

In  addition  to  this,  Mr.  Moore  himself  was 
no  ordinary  man.  We  have  the  best  evidence 
of  this  from  the  estimation  in  which  he  was 
held  by  those  who  knew  him  well.  At  a  time 
when  offices  in  the  militia  were  conferred  only 
on  those  whom  their  comrades  were  willing 
to  trust  as  their  leaders  in  the  hour  of  dan 
ger,  he  had  been  selected  by  those  who  knew 
him  well  to  command  one  of  the  frontier 
rifle  companies;  and  as  captain,  led  a  com 
pany  of  his  fellow  mountaineers  in  General 
Green's  army,  in  the  hard  fought  battle  at 
Guilford  Court  House.  His  was  one  of  the 
companies  that  met  the  first  onset  of  the  foe 
on  that  memorable  day.  They  were  mounted 
riflemen,  and  on  going  into  the  engagement, 
had  tied  their  horses  in  the  woods  behind  the 
hill,  and  out  of  the  reach  of  injury  from  the 


36        THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

balls  of  the  British.  After  the  Virginia  mi 
litia  had  performed  the  part  assigned  them 
with  much  credit,  they  retreated;  and  this 
company  sought  to  regain  their  horses.  The 
animal  on  which  Captain  Moore  was  mounted 
was  fleet,  young,  spirited,  and  never  before 
had  heard  the  din  of  battle.  To  secure  it 
from  breaking  its  bridle,  he  had  passed  the 
reins  in  a  noose  over  the  end  of  a  limb,  which 
allowed  the  horse  considerable  room  to  move 
about.  When  he  came  up  to  it,  he  found  it 
impossible  to  get  it  to  remain  still,  and  leave 
the  reins  slack,  so  that  he  could  unfasten  the 
noose.  The  rest  of  the  company  were  all 
mounted,  and  the  British  dragoons  were 
dashing  towards  them  in  a  brisk  charge.  One 
of  his  men  noticing  the  difficulty,  called  out, 
"  Cut  the  reins,  Captain  ;  cut  the  reins  !" 
"  No,  I  won't,"  was  the  instant  reply;  and 
springing  up,  with  a  powerful  jerk  he  broke 
the  limb.  In  an  instant  he  was  in  the  sad 
dle,  but  encumbered  with  his  rifle,  and  the 
limb  still  hanging  in  the  bridle.  His  fright 
ened  horse,  instead  of  following  the  rest  of 
the  company,  started  directly  towards  the 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    37 

dragoons.  To  free  his  bridle  was  the  work 
of  but  a  moment ;  and  when  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  enemy,  who  felt  sure  of  either 
capturing  or  killing  him,  he  wheeled  his  horse, 
and  its  flectness  enabled  him  to  escape.  It 
has  been  said  of  him  that  he  never  was  known 
to  lose  his  presence  of  mind  in  any  emer 
gency  in  which  he  was  placed. 

At  the  close  of  his  term  of  service,  he  re 
turned  to  his  home  in  the  valley,  the  quiet 
ness  of  which  must  have  presented  a  strong 
contrast  to  the  bustle  of  life  in  the  army.  He 
was  prospering  finely  in  his  business.  After 
having  lived  eight  or  nine  years  in  the  valley, 
he  had  nearly  a  hundred  head  of  horses,  and  a 
large  number  of  cattle,  from  both  of  which 
kinds  of  stock  he  made  profitable  sales  every 
year.  Providence  seemed  to  smile  on  him 
in  everything.  His  family  were  blessed  with 
fine  health,  and  by  giving  attention  to  their 
education  as  well  as  he  could  by  his  own  and 
his  wife's  exertions ;  by  the  careful  observ 
ance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  by  attending  to 
family  worship,  he  and  his  pious  wife  sought 
to  remedy  as  far  as  possible  the  privations 


38        THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'g    VALLEY. 

and  disadvantages  under  which  they  and  their 
children  laboured,  in  being  deprived  altogether 
of  the  privileges  of  attending  on  the  ordi 
nances  of  God's  house.  If  the  present  was 
almost  unmingled  prosperity,  the  future 
seemed  scarce  less  bright.  He  had  formed 
his  plans,  and  had  almost  secured  the  means 
to  purchase  the  whole  of  the  valley ;  and 
here  he  designed  to  settle  his  children  around 
him,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  spend  his  old 
age.  These  were  his  plans,  but  the  purposes 
of  God  were  very  different.  "  How  unsearch 
able  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out !" 


CHAPTER   IV. 

DURING-  the  interval  between  the  close  of 
the  war  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  the 
treaty  made  with  the  Indians  after  they  had 
been  defeated  by  General  Wayne  in  1794, 
the  western  frontiers  were  greatly  harassed 
by  the  savages.  The  Shawnees,  perhaps 
more  frequently  than  any  other  tribe,  took  a 
part  in  the  inroads  on  the  settlements  in 
Pennsylvania,  Kentucky,  and  Virginia.  It 
seemed  to  be  their  plan  riot  to  visit  the  same 
section  of  the  country  very  frequently,  but 
to  allow  time  for  the  settlement  to  get  into  a 
feeling  of  security  after  one  attack,  before 
they  made  another.  Their  feelings  towards 
the  whites  were  bitter.  They  had  been  much 
irritated  by  some  of  the  occurrences  of  the 
war  ;  they  saw  the  settlements  steadily  ex 
tending  westward;  they  had  been  driven 
from  many  hunting-grounds;  and  many  fa 
vourite  districts  which  were  formerly  their 

(39) 


40    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

dwelling-places,  they  saw  in  the  possession 
of  strangers.  Their  hatred  was  directed  to 
the  race,  and  not  to  individuals;  and  they 
could  scalp  and  torture  with  as  much  pleasure 
the  female  and  the  child,  as  the  intrepid  man 
who  had  met  them  in  battle.  They  delighted 
to  come  by  surprise  on  a  defenceless  family, 
to  lead  mothers  and  children  into  captivity, 
to  gather  the  spoils  of  the  household,  and 
carry  them  to  their  distant  wigwams.  Fre 
quently  they  did  not  inflict  needless  cruelty 
on  their  captives.  If  they  encountered  men, 
they  sought  to  kill  them  ;  but  if  women  or 
children  were  put  to  death,  it  was  usually  in 
the  first  attack,  and  before  they  were  sure 
of  victory.  Sometimes  the  captives  were 
adopted  into  a  family  of  the  tribe  ;  sometimes 
they  W7ere  sold  to  the  French,  or  to  tories 
who  had  removed  to  Canada  ;  sometimes  they 
were  restored  to  their  friends  by  the  terms 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  ;  sometimes  their  rela 
tives  ransomed  them ;  and  some  instances 
occurred  in  which  captives  became  attached 
to  savage  life  and  savage  friends,  and  re 
mained  with  the  Indians  of  choice,  after  the 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    41 

opportunity  of  returning  to    their  relatives 
was  presented  to  them. 

Amongst  the  Indians  who  took  an  active 
part  in  harassing  the  frontiers  in  the  period 
above  referred  to,  was  Black  Wolf,  an  inferior 
chief  of  the  Shawnees.  He  lived  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Ohio,  near  Chillicothe.  He  was 
a  man  above  the  ordinary  stature,  possessing 
a  large  share  of  strength,  activity,  and  cour 
age  ;  and  was  one  of  the  most  stern  and  vin 
dictive  warriors  of  that  tribe.  He  headed 
several  of  the  parties  that  harassed  the  south 
western  part  of  Virginia.  Tazewell  seems 
to  have  been  a  favourite  point  of  attack ; 
and  hence  no  part  of  the  old  frontier  was  the 
scene  of  so  many  Indian  adventures.  I  have 
heard  at  different  times,  and  with  more  or 
less  particularity,  the  stories  of  about  twenty 
of  these  forays,  but  must  confine  my  narra 
tive  to  Abb's  Valley,  which  Black  Wolf 
visited  in  1784,  when  he  took  captive  James, 
the  second  son  of  Captain  Moore.  James 
was  then  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  his  age, 
already  well  versed  in  the  use  of  the  rifle, 
and  accustomed  to  travel  over  the  mountains ; 
4* 


42         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

an  adventurous,  keen  hunter  for  his  age.  On 
one  occasion  when  out  alone  with  his  dogs, 
they  had  fallen  on  the  trail  of  a  large  pan 
ther,  which  they  had  driven  to  take  refuge  in 
a  cliff.  It  placed  itself  in  one  of  the  crevices 
of  the  rocks  where  it  could  be  approached 
only  in  front,  and  there  was  entirely  safe 
from  all  attacks  of  the  dogs ;  and  in  conse 
quence  of  a  jutting  point  of  one  of  the  rocks, 
could  not  be  seen  except  by  a  near  approach. 
But  though  the  near  approach  was  connected 
with  no  little  peril,  of  which  he  was  wrell 
aware,  James  determined  not  to  let  the  dan 
gerous  animal  escape.  He  advanced  cau 
tiously  with  his  rifle  ready  to  fire,  until  at  the 
distance  of  not  more  than  three  yards,  he 
got  a  sight  of  it,  and  instantly  shot  it  through 
the  head. 

About  the  middle  of  September,  in  the 
year  above  named,  he  was  sent  after  break 
fast  to  bring  a  horse  from  the  place  where 
Mr.  Poage  had  lived ;  the  distance  was  about 
two  miles.  He  had  often  gone  there  alone 
•without  fear ;  but  on  this  occasion  he  had  scarce 
lost  sight  of  his  father's  house,  when  an  unac- 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.         43 

countable  feeling  of  dread  came  over  him  ; 
which  became  so  distressing  that  he  had  at 
one  time  determined  to  go  back,  but  was  pre 
vented  from  doing  so  by  the  fear  of  his  fa 
ther's  displeasure.  He  never  could  explain 
this  fear  on  any  other  ground,  than  that  it 
was  a  strange  presentiment  of  the  evil  which 
was  about  to  befall  him.  There  is,  however, 
one  circumstance  which  I  suppose  makes  the 
case  entirely  explicable  without  the  necessity 
of  having  recourse  to  supernatural  causes. 
He  had  spent  the  previous  night  till  a  late 
hour,  reading  the  wild  tale  of  Valentine  and 
Orson,  in  which  he  was  greatly  interested ; 
and  the  influence  of  the  feelings  of  the  past 
night  still  existed  in  his  mind  to  some  extent. 
though  he  knew  not  what  it  was.  The  ac 
count  which  he  has  since  given  of  the  matter, 
and  which  is  here  copied  from  his  dictation, 
is  that  it  w^as  not  the  dread  of  Indians,  for 
he  was  not  thinking  of  them.  It  was  an  un 
defined  apprehension  of  some  great  calamity 
that  would  befall  him  ;  that  perhaps  some  wild 
beast  w7ould  devour  him.  In  this  agitated 
state  oT  mind  he  went  forward  until  he  had 


44        THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY. 

almost  reached  the  field  where  the  horses  were, 
when  Black  Wolf  and  two  younger  Indians 
sprang  from  behind  a  large  log,  and  yelling 
the  terrific  war  whoop,  rushed  on  him,  and 
laid  hold  of  him  before  he  had  time  to  think 
what  to  do.  When  he  first  heard  their  yell, 
he  supposed  it  was  the  wild  beast  which,  he 
had  dreaded ;  and  was  relieved  in  no  small 
degree  when  he  saw  it  was  Indians.  He  said 
aloud — "  It  is  only  Indians.  I  need  not  be 
scared.  I  shall  only  have  to  go  to  the  Shaw- 
nee  towns."  Wolf  then  directed  him  by 
signs  to  catch  one  of  the  horses,  giving  him 
some  salt  for  this  purpose  ;  but  as  the  young 
Indian  retained  the  bridle,  and  ran  up  to 
James  with  it  when  he  saw  him  take  hold  of 
the  mane  of  the  horse,  he  contrived  to  have 
the  horse  break  away  from  him.  After  two 
or  three  unsuccessful  attempts  it  was  given 
up.  He  says  he  had  no  wish  to  have  his 
father  lose  one  of  his  best  horses. 

They  then  started  towards  the  Ohio,  the 
two  young  men  before,  James  next,  and  W^olf 
behind,  who  with  care  covered  any  marks 
which  the  others  had  made.  James  com- 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.         45 

menced  breaking  the  tops  of  the  bushes  as 
lie  went  along,  but  Wolf  immediately  noticed 
it,  and  shaking  his  tomahawk  over  his  head, 
compelled  him  to  desist.  He  next  began,  to 
turn  up  the  leaves  with  his  toes  as  he  walked, 
but  this  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  the 
watchful  savage,  who  at  once  understood  his  ob 
ject  in  doing  it.  Coming  forward,  he  showed 
him  how  to  set  his  foot  flat  on  the  ground, 
and  how  to  lift  it  in  taking  the  step  without 
leaving  any  marks  ;  and  with  an  angry  shake 
of  the  tomahawk,  compelled  him  to  obey  the 
directions  he  had  given  him.  In  the  after 
noon,  the  rain  began  to  fall,  and  the  evening 
was  quite  cool.  About  the  time  that  it  be 
came  dark,  the  party  stopped  in  a  dense 
laurel  thicket,  and  spent  the  night  without 
fire,  shelter,  or  food.  This  was  a  dismal 
night  to  the  captive.  His  clothing  was  only 
such  as  was  suited  to  the  hottest  part  of  a 
summer  day ;  his  arms  were  securely  tied 
with  straps  of  un tanned  skin ;  he  was  placed 
between  the  two  young  Indians,  and  another 
strap  which  Wolf  held  in  his  hand  was  tied 
round  his  body.  In  this  situation  he  re- 


46         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB^S   VALLET. 

volved  in  an  endless  variety  of  ways  all  the 
circumstances  of  his  condition.  He  had  often 
heard  of  Indian  captivities,  of  persons  escap 
ing  from  them,  and  of  the  cruelties  sometimes 
practised  on  captives  ;  and  anxiously  did  he 
endeavour  to  settle  his  mind  on  some  proba 
ble  issue  in  his  case.  Often  his  thoughts 
turned  to  his  late  happy  home  ;  and  he  vainly 
wished  that  he  could  communicate  the  know 
ledge  of  his  situation  to  those  from  whom  he 
had  been  separated  so  unexpectedly.  He  well 
knew  that  an  anxious  group  would  be  gathered 
around  his  father's  fireside  that  night ;  and 
that  he  would  be  the  subject  of  conversation, 
conjecture,  and  of  earnest  prayer  when  the 
family  kneeled  together  in  their  evening 
devotions.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  at 
length  fell  into  a  sound  sleep,  and  passed 
some  hours  in  unconsciousness  of  the  trials 
that  were  pressing  upon  him. 

All  that  his  imagination  pictured,  actually 
passed  in  the  family  that  night.  In  the  after 
noon,  Mr.  Moore  surprised  at  his  son's  delay 
in  returning,  went  to  the  field  where  the 
horses  were,  and  from  various  indications, 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB?S  VALLEY.    47 

felt  convinced  that  his  son  had  been  taken 
captive,  and  had  not  been  killed.  But  Wolf 
had  been  so  careful  not  to  leave  any  trace  of 
the  direction  his  party  took  when  leaving  the 
valley,  that  Captain  Moore  was  not  able  to 
find  any  indications  that  would  enable  him  to 
form  satisfactory  conjectures,  either  as  to  the 
numbers  of  the  party,  or  the  route  they  had 
taken.  The  only  point  on  which  he  could 
form  a  fixed  opinion  was,  that  his  son  had  not 
been  killed ;  but  whether  he  had  been  taken 
southward,  or  toward  the  Ohio,  he  could  not 
tell.  His  son  was  a  captive  amongst  the 
savages ;  but  even  here  hope  sought  for 
something  to  rest  upon,  and  soon  found  it. 
James  was  healthy,  hardy,  active,  cheerful, 
and  would  not  be  likely  to  suffer  material 
injury  from  anything  an  Indian  could  endure. 
And  through  the  traders,  intelligence  would 
be  gained  concerning  him,  and  he  would  be 
restored  to  his  parents  and  to  his  friends 
again.  Such  were  the  reasonings  and  the 
hopes,  which  in  time  gave  to  the  family  all 
the  alleviation  which  their  circumstances 
admitted.  Often,  often,  was  James  the  sub- 


48        THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

ject  of  conversation  ;  and  various  plans  were 
talked  over,  and  some  of  them  executed,  to 
ascertain  where  he  was. 

At  the  dawn  of  day  Wolf  and  his  party 
resumed  their  journey,  making  their  way  to 
wards  the  ridge  in  which  is  found  a  low  pass 
that  is  called  Maxwell's  Gap.  This  pass  is 
called  by  this  name,  from  the  circumstance 
of  a  man  named  Maxwell  having  been  killed 
there  in  a  fight  with  some  Indians.  In  this 
gap  they  halted  for  a  short  time,  and  Wolf 
brought  from  the  place  where  he  had  con 
cealed  it  on  a  former  expedition,  an  iron  oven, 
which  he  required  James  to  carry.  At  first 
it  was  placed  on  his  back  somewhat  after  the 
manner  of  a  knapsack ;  but  as  its  weight 
and  position  gave  him  great  pain,  he  threw 
it  down,  and  by  signs  expressed  his  determina 
tion  not  to  carry  it  any  further.  Wolf  then 
laid  down  his  load,  and  bade  him  take  it ; 
but  when  James  found  that  he  could  not  even 
place  h  on  his  back,  he  took  the  oven  again, 
filled  it  Avith  leaves,  and  turning  it  down  on 
his  head,  carried  it  without  much  difficulty  or 
pain.  The  day  after  they  left  the  gap,  it 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.         49 

commenced  raining,  and  one  of  the  young 
Indians  attempted  to  take  James's  hat.  He 
understood  enough  of  Indian  character  to 
know  that  all  his  chance  of  faring  well  with 
them,  depended  on  showing  a  spirit  which 
would  not  quail  at  any  appearance  of  dan 
ger,  and  which  would  resist  everything  like 
oppression.  He  therefore  firmly  resisted  the 
attempt  to  take  his  hat ;  and  when  it  was  per 
sisted  in,  he  struck  his  assailant.  The  In 
dian  then  explained  that  he  wanted  the  hat 
to  protect  the  lock  of  his  gun  from  the  rain, 
to  which  use  of  it  James  assented ;  and  when 
the  rain  ceased,  it  was  returned  to  him. 

The  Indians  had  no  food  with  them,  the 
chestnuts  and  acorns  were  not  yet  ripe,  and 
they  met  with  neither  roots  nor  berries  which 
they  could  use  as  food ;  and  as  they  pursued 
the  route  which  could  be  travelled  with  the 
greatest  expedition,  they  kept  on  the  top  of 
the  ridges  where  no  game  was  to  be  met  with. 
In  this  condition,  they  resorted  to  an  expe 
dient  for  relieving  the  cravings  of  hunger 
which  dire  necessity  had  taught  the  savage. 
They  took  the  inner  bark  of  the  yellow  pop- 
5 


50        THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

lar  from  near  the  root,  boiled  it,  and  drank 
the  decoction  with  evident  benefit.  On  the 
third  day  they  killed  a  bear,  but  it  was  so 
poor  the  Indians  would  not  eat  any  of  it.  On 
the  fourth  day  they  killed  a  buffalo.  As 
soon  as  they  could,  they  made  some  broth 
from  a  portion  of  the  intestines  hastily 
washed  in  the  branch  that  happened  to  be 
near,  and  drank  heartily  of  it.  At  night 
they  again  made  broth,  and  drank  freely,  but 
did  not  eat  any  of  the  meat  till  the  next 
morning.  Had  they  eaten  the  meat  at  first, 
it  would  have  produced  sickness,  if  not  death  ; 
but  by  the  course  they  pursued,  no  incon 
venience  was  experienced.  After  this  they 
did  not  suffer  from  the  want  of  food  ;  and 
being  now  out  of  danger  from  pursuit,  they 
travelled  less  rapidly  than  at  first.  After 
the  party  felt  themselves  free  from  danger, 
Black  Wolf  gave  one  loud,  long  whoop  every 
evening  at  sundown,  and  every  morning  at 
sunrise,  indicating  that  he  had  one  prisoner. 
When  within  about  one  day's  journey  of 
the  Ohio,  they  stopped  for  the  night  on  the 
top  of  a  ridge.  A  small  camp-kettle  was 


THE    PRAYER   FOR    HELP.  Page    51. 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.         51 

given  to  the  captive  to  go  down  to  the  foot 
of  the  ridge  for  water.  As  he  started  down 
the  hill,  Wolf  wrapped  himself  in  his  blanket, 
and  lay  down  as  if  to  sleep.  As  soon  as 
James  got  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  supposing 
himself  entirely  unobserved,  he  kneeled  down 
and  engaged  in  prayer  to  God.  He  had  been 
taught  this  and  other  duties  of  religion  by 
his  parents  ;  and  now  he  realized  as  he  never 
had  before  the  privilege  of  calling  on  God, 
'  and  feeling  that  though  unseen  He  was  a 
friend  near  at  hand;  the  only  friend  to  whom 
he  could  tell  his  sorrows ;  the  friend  that 
could  guide  and  protect  him.  It  is  said  in  God's 
word,  u  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  because  he 
trusteth  in  thee."  In  part  at  least,  this  was 
fulfilled  in  the  case  of  the  young  captive. 
When  he  had  cast  himself  on  God,  he  rose 
from  his  knees  in  a  state  of  entire  tranquillity 
of  mind.  So  great  was  the  change  in  his 
feelings,  that  for  the  first  time  since  his  capti 
vity  the  tears  burst  from  his  eyes,  and  he  wept 
abundantly.  From  that  hour  he  felt  no  trou 
blesome  apprehension  of  evil.  He  had  made 


52         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    PALLET. 

God  his  refuge,  and  God  took  care  of  him. 
When  he  returned  with  the  water,  the  marks 
of  the  tears  were  on  his  cheeks ;  and  Wolf 
coming  up  to  him  pointed  to  them,  and  an 
grily  shaking  the  tomahawk  over  his  head, 
intimated  to  him  that  he  must  cry  no  more. 
He  afterwards  found  out  that  every  move 
ment  of  his  had  been  watched  carefully ;  and 
that  it  was  a  trial  of  him  to  see  whether  he 
would  attempt  to  escape.  From  this  time  he 
was  guarded  less  strictly. 

The  party  pursued  their  way  leisurely  un 
til  they  reached  the  Ohio,  which  they  crossed 
on  a  raft  formed  of  pieces  of  dead  timber 
which  they  found  on  the  bank,  and  fastened 
together  with  grape-vines.  They  crossed 
somewhere  between  the  mouths  of  Guyan- 
dotte  and  Sandy  rivers,  and  probably  near 
the  mouth  of  the  latter.  Thence  they  took 
the  trail  to  the  Indian  settlements  on  the 
Scioto.  During  the  journey  James  suffered 
very  much.  When  he  was  taken  prisoner  his 
clothing  was  thin,  suited  to  the  warm  weather 
of  the  latter  part  of  summer,  and  he  had  on 
neither  shoes  nor  moccasins.  But  the  first 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'iS    VA1LEY.         53 

night  of  his  captivity  the  weather  changed 
to  the  cool  temperature  of  early  autumn ;  and 
lefore  he  reached  the  end  of  his  journey,  he 
had  several  large  ulcers  on  the  soles  of  his 
feet,  occasioned  by  bruises  on  stones. 

To  save  his  captive  from  any  cruel  treat 
ment,  Wolf  did  not  take  him  directly  to  his 
own  village.  But  after  some  days  there  was 
a  council  in  the  village  where  he  was,  at 
which  he  was  present.  An  old  chief  spoke 
with  great  earnestness,  and  by  the  manner  in 
which  he  and  others  looked  at  him,  the  cap 
tive  understood  that  the  speech  had  reference 
to  him.  He  learned  afterwards  that  the  old 
chief  was  reprimanding  Wolf  for  his  coarse 
in  harassing  the  whites  ;  and  warned  him  and 
others,  that  they  would  draw  down  on  their 
tribe  the  vengeance  of  those  whom  they  were 
provoking.  Not  long  after  this  Wolf  sold 
his  captive  for  an  old  horse. 

About  this  time  the  season  for  the  fall 
hunting  of  the  Indians  commenced,  and  James 
was  sent  with  a  party  to  a  distant  point,  where 
they  were  to  continue  their  hunt  till  after 
mid-winter  ;  by  which  time  it  was  supposed 
5* 


04         THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB  S    VALLEY. 

the  party,  beside  procuring  valuable  peltries, 
would  get  meat  for  the  latter  part  of  the  win 
ter  and  the  spring.  Before  starting  on  his 
expedition,  he  was  left  for  several  days  alone 
in  the  wigwam  of  his  mistress.  Some  boiled 
hominy  was  given  him  for  food  each  clay, 
but  none  of  the  family  remained  with 
him.  lie  never  learned  what  the  design  of 
this  treatment  wras.  During  the  time  of 
this  solitude  he  often  engaged  in  prayer, 
and  found  much  comfort  in  it.  Few  in 
cidents  show  the  value  of  early  religious  in 
struction  more  clearly  than  this  does.  The 
good  seed  had  been  sov>~n  by  parental  care, 
and  now  it  bore  fruit  in  circumstances  where 
it  was  much  needed.  "  There  is  a  friend  that 
sticketh  closer  than  a  brother;"  a  friend 
there  is  that  can  help  when  all  other  aid  is 
far  off;  that  can  console  when  removed  from 
every  other  source  of  comfort.  That  friend 
has  said — "  I  love  them  that  love  me,  and 
they  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me." 

A  few  days  after  this  period  of  solitude  in 
the  hut,  the  company  started.  In  this  expe- 
iition  they  suffered  severely.  James  fared 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?£    VALLEY.         55 

as  the  rest  of  the  party.  Indeed,  he  never 
met  with  any  special  ill  treatment  during  the 
time  he  was  with  them.  But  this  year  the 
winter  set  in  early,  and  the  snow  fell  very 
deep.  They  killed  very  little  game,  and  sub 
sisted  almost  entirely  on  parched  corn.  Their 
method  of  preparing  it  was  to  parch  it,  then 
throw  it  for  a  short  time  into  hot  water. 
Each  one  would  take  a  small  handful  after  it 
had  been  a  little  softened  in  the  water,  and 
placing  a  single  grain  at  a  time  on  a  smooth 
stone,  would  strike  on  it  with  another  until 
it  was  crushed  as  fine  as  they  could  well  make 
it ;  when  it  was  thrown  back  into  the  water 
and  boiled  for  some  time.  They  then  drank 
the  water,  and  ate  the  corn  from  the  bottom 
of  the  pot.  This  was  often  their  whole  liv 
ing  while  exposed  to  the  severity  of  a  cold 
winter  in  the  wilderness,  unsheltered  by  any 
thing  except  the  poor  protection  of  a  misera 
ble  hut,  a  thin,  small  blanket  to  each,  and 
clothing  which  would  not  have  been  consi 
dered  more  than  comfortable  in  the  mild 
weather  of  April.  To  aid  them  in  enduring 
the  hardships  which  they  had  to  suffer,  a 


56         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S   VALLEY. 

large  fire  was  made  early  in  the  morning,  and 
each  one  plunged  into  the  stream  usually 
covered  with  ice.  As  quickly  as  possible  they 
dressed  by  the  fire,  then  partook  of  their 
scanty  breakfast,  and  entered  on  the  business 
of  the  day,  seldom  eating  again  until  they 
met  at  the  hut  in  the  evening.  In  this  way 
the  captive  lad  spent  the  winter,  not  knowing 
but  that  many  similar  winters  were  before 
him.  But  that  God  on  whom  he  had  called, 
and  on  whose  care  he  had  cast  himself,  had 
better  things  in  store  for  him. 

In  the  month  of  April  there  was  an  Indian 
festival  at  one  of  the  villages  near  to  the  one 
in  which  James  lived,  which  he  attended  with 
the  family  to  which  he  belonged.  Here  he 
met  with  a  French  trader,  Bateeste  (Baptist) 
Ariome,  who  s;nv  in  him  a  striking  likeness 
to  a  son  of  his  who  had  died  a  few  months 
before  ;  and  on  this  account,  as  well  as  for 
•other  reasons,  became  much  interested  in 
him.  For  fifty  dollars  paid  in  goods,  he  pur 
chased  him  of  the  woman  to  whom  he  be 
longed.  By  Mr.  Ariome  he  was  taken  to  his 
residence  in  Canada,  not  far  from  Detroit, 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   AlB'S   VALLEY.         57 

and  was  treated  as  a  son.  Thus  ended  his 
captivity  amongst  the  savages. 

After  he  had  been  purchased  by  Mr. 
Ariome,  but  before  leaving  the  village,  he 
met  with  a  Mr.  Sherlock,  a  trader  from  Ken 
tucky,  who  had  once  been  a  prisoner  in  this 
same  tribe,  and  had  in  this  way  become  ac 
quainted  with  them  ;  and  afterwards  visited 
them  with  goods  to  barter  for  skins  and  furs. 
Through  his  agency,  a  young  man  named 
MofFat,  whose  father  lived  in  the  same  region 
from  which  James  came,  had  been  released 
from  captivity.  He  requested  him,  on  his 
return,  to  communicate  to  Captain  Moore  the 
intelligence  that  he  was  no  longer  with  the 
Indians,  and  had  gone  to  Canada.  After 
several  months  the  message  was  received,  and 
gave  to  Mr.  Moore  the  first  certain  intelli 
gence  of  the  fate  of  his  son ;  and  afforded 
joy  to  hearts  that  had  indulged  hopes  based 
on  they  scarce  knew  what,  but  still  clinging 
to  them,  though  it  seemed  as  "  against  hope, 
believing  in  hope." 

Not  knowing  how  long  he  would  continue 
amongst  the  Indians,  and  in  the  buoyancy 


58        THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY. 

of  youth  accommodating  himself  to  the  cir 
cumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  the  young 
captive  had  used  his  best  efforts  to  learn  the 
Shawnee  language ;  and  had  succeeded  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  could  speak  it  with 
some  ease,  and  understand  almost  every 
thing  that  was  said  in  his  presence.  Amongst 
other  things  which  he  has  related  as  coming 
under  his  notice,  are  some  which  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  mention. 

In  the  tribe  to  which  his  captors  belonged, 
there  was  a  sort  of  association  called  the 
u  Powow  Brothers."  No  mean,  worthless  In 
dian  could  belong  to  it,  and  no  female  was 
allowed  to  be  a  member.  During  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  the  brotherhood  met  fre 
quently,  and  often  remained  together  for 
several  hours.  The  object  of  their  meetings 
ho  never  ascertained.  From  one  of  them, 
the  husband  of  his  mistress  returned  with  a 
serious  and  even  a  sad  countenance,  and  sat 
silent  in  the  wigwam.  After  some  time  his 
wife  went  to  him,  and  earnestly  inquired  the 
cause  of  his  sadness.  He  told  her  that  dur 
ing  their  meeting  the  Great  Spirit  had  ap- 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   59 

peared  to  them  ;  that  at  first  it  was  not  larger 
than  a  man's  hand ;  that  it  increased  until  it 
got  to  be  the  size  of  a  boy  twelve  years  old ; 
that  the  Spirit  was  angry  with  them  and 
would  punish  them  for  forsaking  the  ways  of 
their  fathers.  In  former  times,  their  paths 
were  marked  with  the  tracks  of  men  and 
dogs ;  now  only  with  the  tracks  of  horses. 
They  were  more  proud,  and  less  kind  to  one 
another  than  formerly,  of  which  he  mentioned 
several  evidences.  Addressing  her,  he  said 
in  the  most  solemn  manner,  "  The  Great 
Spirit  will  punish  you  for  your  pride."  She 
was  rich  according  to  the  Indian  notion  of 
riches,  and  was  vain  and  overbearing. 

This  took  place  only  a  few  weeks  before 
James  left  the  tribe ;  and  it  is  a  matter  not 
devoid  of  interest  to  know  that  the  prediction 
was  fulfilled.  Several  months  after  this,  an 
other  tribe,  provoked  by  the  pilfering  of  the 
men  of  this  village,  attacked  them,  and  de 
stroyed  their  town  entirely,  burning  all  their 
•wigwams  and  laying  waste  their  fields.  This 
•woman  barely  escaped  with  her  life  and  her 
children,  losing  everything  she  possessed. 


GO   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY. 

James  met  her  in  Canada  after  her  reverse  of 
fortune,  and  gave  her  a  loaf  of  bread,  which 
she  received  with  the  warmest  expressions  of 
gratitude. 

Whilst  a  captive  he  frequently  saw  large 
rattlesnakes,  but  was  not  allowed  to  kill  any 
of  them.  The  reason  given  by  the  Indians 
was,  that  the  rattlesnakes  were  their  friends, 
and  therefore  they  would  not  allowT  them  to 
be  injured. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

As  soon  as  Captain  Moore  was  informed 
of  his  son's  situation,  he  formed  the  purpose 
to  go  for  him  and  bring  him  home.  But  to 
accomplish  this  was  a  thing  of  no  little  diffi 
culty.  The  entire  distance  was  either  a  wil 
derness,  or  inhabited  by  hostile  Indians  ;  and 
he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  country  north  of 
the  Ohio.  In  this  state  of  things,  even  if  he 
should  succeed  in  making  his  way  to  where 
James  was,  he  could  not  reasonably  expect 
to  be  absent  from  his  family  less  than  nine 
months  or  a  year;  and  in  the  meantime  he 
must  leave  them  without  a  protector.  The 
subject  was  often  talked  over,  and  every 
scheme  that  affection  and  ingenuity  could 
suggest  was  examined  in  all  its  bearings. 
The  result  of  all  was,  that  for  the  present 
the  attempt  must  be  postponed.  To  this 
conclusion  all  submitted  with  the  less  reluc 
tance,  because  they  knew  that  James  was 
6  (61) 


62        THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

with  a  kind  man,  an  intelligent  man  in  busi 
ness  matters,  under  whose  care  he  would  be 
gaining  knowledge  that  would  be  useful  to 
him. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Moore  was  diligently 
and  successfully  prosecuting  the  object  which 
has  been  mentioned  before — the  purchase  of 
the  entire  valley.  About  a  year  after  the 
capture  of  his  son,  such  progress  had  been 
made,  that  the  first  steps  toward  securing  the 
title  had  been  taken  ;  and  he  expected  that 
in  another  year  it  would  be  perfected.  But 
these  expectations  were  destined  to  meet  a 
melancholy  disappointment. 

In  June  1786,  Black  Wolf,  at  the  head  of 
between  thirty  and  forty  warriors  started  for 
the  south-western  part  of  Virginia.  On  the 
thirteenth  of  July,  they  killed  a  man  and  his 
wife,  and  having  plundered  and  burnt  his 
dwelling,  they  passed  on  in  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Moore's  residence  ;  and  late  in  the  after 
noon,  reached  the  foot  of  the  mountain  which 
bounds  Abb's  Valley  on  the  west.  Two  of 
them  ascended  the  mountain  late  in  the  even 
ing,  and  after  night  approached  so  near  to 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   PALLET.         63 

the  house  that  they  were  able  to  count  the 
family  when  they  were  at  supper.  At  the 
usual  time  all  retired  to  rest,  not  thinking  of 
any  unusual  danger.  It  was  noticed  that 
about  dark  the  dogs  were  much  excited,  and 
some  horses  near  the  house  seemed  to  be 
frightened;  but  this  was  supposed  to  be  pro 
duced  by  some  wild  animal,  a  bear  or  a  pan 
ther,  that  had  been  prowling  about. 

Daylight  dawned  on  a  happy  family  in 
Abb's  Valley  on  the  morning  of  the  14th. 
They  rose  early,  and  engaged  in  their  respec 
tive  employments.  It  was  the  busy,  joyous 
season  of  harvest.  Two  men  were  reaping 
wheat  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  house. 
Mr.  Moore  was  giving  salt  to  some  young 
horses  not  far  off.  Two  of  the  children  had 
gone  for  water  to  the  place  from  which  the 
supply  was  usually  obtained,  and  which  was 
somewhat  in  the  direction  of  the  spot  where 
their  father  was.  Another  had  gone  to  the 
fence  which  enclosed  the  yard  to  give  the 
signal  to  Mr.  Moore  and  the  reapers  to  come 
to  breakfast.  In  this  juncture,  the  fearful 
war-whoop  was  heard,  arid  the  savages  were 


64    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

Been  rushing  down  two  ridges  of  the  moun 
tain,  one  party  to  the  salting  blocks,  where 
Mr.  Moore  was,  and  the  other  to  the  house. 
At  the  first  alarm,  Mary,  who  was  calling  to 
her  father  and  the  reapers,  ran  into  the  house, 
in  which  were  her  mother,  Margaret,  John, 
and  Jane ;  and  Martha  Evans,  a  young  wo 
man  from  Walker's  Creek,  in  what  is  now 
Giles  county,  who  happened  to  be  at  Mr. 
Moore's  at  this  time.  The  house,  like  almost 
all  the  frontier  houses  of  that  period,  was 
constructed  with  a  view  to  defence  against 
the  Indians,  and  was  what  was  called  a  block 
house  cabin.  Amongst  other  things,  the 
doors  were  made  of  plank  too  thick  to  be 
penetrated  by  a  rifle  ball,  and  were  furnished 
with  strong  fosterlings  in  the  inside ;  and  the 
windows  were  high  and  small,  and  could  be 
secured  instantly.  In  the  confusion  of  the 
moment,  Mrs.  Moore  and  Martha  Evans  shut 
the  doors  and  secured  the  windows,  without 
it  once  occurring  to  them  that  they  were 
shutting  out  Mr.  Moore  and  the  other  child 
ren.  As  soon  as  he  heard  the  yell  of  the 
savages,  Mr  Moore  started  to  the  house  with 


THE    CAi'TIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEf.         G5 

his  utmost  speed,  and  could  Lave  got  in, 
if  the  door  had  been  open  ;  but  seeing  it 
closed,  he  ran  past  the  end  of  the  house,  and 
halted  for  a  moment  on  the  yard  fence.  This 
halt  was  fatal  to  him,  for  he  was  pierced  with 
seven  balls.  Springing  from  the  fence  he 
ran  about  forty  paces  and  fell.  He  was  im 
mediately  tomahawked,  and  his  scalp  torn  off. 
Had  he  succeeded  in  getting  into  his  house, 
the  opinion  of  those  who  well  knew  him  was, 
that  the  issue  of  the  attack  would  have  been 
very  different  from  what  it  was.  There  were 
six  or  seven  rifles  in  the  house,  and  with  the 
advantages  which  the  construction  of  the  house 
gave,  the  defence  would  have  been  such  as  to 
cost  the  assailants  dear,  even  if  it  had  not 
been  successful.  The  Indians  said  afterwards 
that  he  might  have  escaped,  had  it  not  been 
for  his  halt  on  the  fence.  Why  he  made 
that  pause  we  cannot  know.  Did  he  think 
of  some  way  to  rescue  his  family  ?  Was  it 
only  the  promptings  of  an  agonized  heart 
without  any  definite  object?  W7e  may  con 
jecture  about  his  thoughts  in  that  bitter  mo 
ment,  but  we  never  can  know  what  passed  in 
6* 


66    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

his  mind.  William  and  Rebecca,  who  had 
gone  for  water,  were  overtaken  before  they 
reached  the  house  and  killed,  and  another 
son  Alexander,  was  killed  nearer  the  house. 
Simpson,  the  Englishman  spoken  of  in  the 
former  part  of  this  narrative,  was  in  the  up 
per  part  of  the  house  somewhat  indisposed ; 
and  Martha  Evans,  taking  two  of  the  guns  in 
her  hands,  went  up  where  he  was,  and  called 
to  him  to  fire  at  the  Indians,  but  found  that 
he  was  lying  on  his  bed  dying.  He  had  been 
looking  out  through  a  crack  between  two  of 
the  logs,  and  was  shot  in  the  side  of  the  head. 
When  she  came  down,  she  raised  a  plank  in 
the  floor,  and  crept  under.  Mary  was  going 
under  with  her,  but  had  in  her  arms  the 
youngest  child,  an  infant,  which  was  crying 
from  the  pain  of  a  wound  in  its  shoulder. 
Martha  remonstrated  against  its  being  brought 
under,  as  it  would  betray  them,  and  Mary 
would  not  leave  it.  The  plank  was  replaced, 
concealing  only  Martha.  In  this  trying  mo 
ment,  when  two  fierce  dogs  that  had  defended 
the  door  had  been  killed,  and  the  Indians 
were  at  work  with  their  tomahawks  cutting 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.         67 

it  down,  Mrs.  Moore  kneeled  with  her  chil 
dren,  and  having  commended  all  to  God, 
rose  and  removed  the  bars  from  the  door ; 
and  herself  and  her  four  children  became 
captives. 

There  was  one  son  of  the  family  that  twice 
escaped  captivity  or  death.  On  the  day  that 
James  was  taken,  Joseph,  his  younger  brother, 
was  anxious  to  go  with  him  to  bring  the  horse, 
but  for  some  reason  his  parents  would  not 
permit  him;  and  thus  he  escaped  at  that 
time.  He  was  not  at  home  on  this  melan 
choly  day.  In  the  previous  spring  he  had 
accompanied  his  father  to  Lexington,  where 
he  had  gone  to  barter  the  productions  of  the 
valley,  and  procure  necessaries  for  his  family. 
On  the  way  he  took  the  measles,  and  being 
too  unwell  to  travel,  was  left  at  his  grand 
father  Poage's ;  and  thus  made  his  second 
escape. 

The  Indians,  having  everything  now  in 
their  power,  went  leisurely  to  the  work  of 
gathering  the  spoil.  The  breakfast  which 
had  been  prepared  for  the  family,  with  such 
additions  as  were  required  by  the  increase  of 


68         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLE1T. 

numbers,  became  the  repast  of  the  hungry 
savages.  They  were  in  no  fear  of  any  inter 
ruption,  for  several  hours  at  least ;  for  their 
numbers  were  such  that  the  few  scattered 
families  in  the  valley  thereabout  could  i_ot 
muster  a  force  sufficient  to  attack  them  with 
any  hope  of  success.  They  took  out  of  the 
house  everything  they  wished  to  carry  away. 
Indeed,  they  first  brought  out  everything,  and 
then  made  a  sort  of  partition  of  the  spoils 
amongst  themselves,  leaving  the  remainder  in. 
a  pile  to  be  burned.  They  then  spent  some 
hours  in  killing  all  the  stock  of  every  kind 
they  could  find ;  and  then  in  the  afternoon 
started  for  the  Ohio,  after  setting  on  fire  the 
dwelling  house,  and  all  the  out-buildings  of 
every  description.  While  they  were  busily 
engaged  in  the  division  of  the  spoils  on  one 
side  of  the  house,  Martha  Evans  crept  from 
her  place  of  concealment,  and  unobserved  by 
them,  made  her  way  to  a  ravine  not  far  oft', 
and  concealed  herself  under  a  shelving  rock, 
on  which  rested  the  end  of  a  fallen  tree  that 
Jay  across  the  ravine.  About  the  time  that 
the  party  were  starting  off,  one  of  the  Indians 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    69 

passing  that  way,  seated  himself  on  the  log, 
and  commenced  working  with  the  lock  of  his 
gun.  He  had  not  noticed  her,  but  she  sup 
posing  that  he  had  seen  her,  and  was  about 
to  kill  her,  carne  out  and  gave  herself  up,  and 
thus  became  a  fellow  captive  with  the  survi 
vors  of  the  family. 

Not  a  few  of  the  readers  of  this  legend 
will  feel  more  than  a  little  desire  to  know 
something  of  the  scenery  around  Mr.  Moore's 
dwelling,  and  the  state  of  things  existing 
there  when  the  captives  left  the  valley.  I 
will  give  them  the  best  help  I  can  in  gratify 
ing  their  wishes,  at  the  same  time  referring 
them  to  the  frontispiece  for  additional  aid. 

At  the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  in 
front  of  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Moore,  which 
faced  towards  the  southeast,  stood  a  lofty 
mountain  covered  to  its  top  with  a  dense 
forest.  To  the  right  and  left  lay  the  mea 
dow  and  the  cultivated  fields  of  the  farm. 
The  house  was  placed  at  the  foot  of  a  spur 
which  branched  off  from  the  mountain  that 
bounded  the  valley  on  the  northwest.  One 
of  the  ridges  of  this  spur  leads  down  into 


70        THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

the  valley  near  where  the  house  stood,  and 
another  a  short  distance  southwest  of  it.  The 
yard  was  enclosed  by  a  worm  fence,  made  of 
rails,  and  at  a  short  distance  from  the  south 
west  end  of  the  house  there  was  a  deep,  nar 
row  ravine.  This  was  the  channel  of  a  spring 
branch,  which,  opposite  the  end  of  the  house, 
poured  its  clear  water  over  a  perpendicular 
limestone  rock,  forming  a  beautiful  cascade 
about  ten  feet  high.  To  this  place  the  family 
usually  went  for  the  water  that  was  used  for 
all  household  purposes,  except  cooking  and 
drinking.  A  few  paces  below  the  cascade 
the  stream  disappeared  under  another  ledge 
of  limestone.  A  few  yards  south  of  the  cas 
cade  were  the  blocks  where  salt  was  given  to 
the  -stock;  arid  a  little  farther  in  the  same 
direction  were  the  barn,  stables,  and  some 
other  out-buildings.  This  was  the  condition 
of  things  on  the  morning  of  that  fatal  day. 
In  the  afternoon  the  scene  was  sadly  changed. 
Smoking  ruins  marked  the  place  where  the 
building  stood.  Sad  indeed  the  day  had 
been  to  that  frontier  family  ;  arid  melancholy 
beyond  description  must  have  been  the  feel- 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.        71 

ings  of  that  little  band  of  captives  as  they 
left  the  valley  with  their  merciless  captors. 

When  the  men  that  were  reaping  heard 
the  war-whoop,  and  saw  the  Indians  rushing 
down  towards  the  house,  they  set  off  as  fast 
as  they  could  run  through  the  wheat  field  to 
the  woods  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley; 
and  as  soon  as  they  felt  themselves  secure 
from  pursuit  separated,  one  of  them  going  to 
the  settlement  on  Bluestone,  and  the  other 
going  to  give  warning  of  danger  to  some 
other  families.  The  man  who  went  to  the 
Bluestone  settlement  was  an  Irishman,  not 
much  accustomed  to  travel  in  the  forests,  and 
but  little  acquainted  with  that  region  of  coun 
try.  He  lost  his  way,  and  was  some  hours 
longer  in  reaching  the  point  at  which  he  was 
aiming  than  a  more  expert  woodsman  would 
have  been.  As  soon  as  provision  could  be 
made  for  the  safety  of  the  families  there,  a 
small  company  of  men,  not  exceeding  ten, 
started  for  Abb's  Valley,  and  reached  the 
scene  of  the  disaster  somewhat  late  in  the 
afternoon ;  and  certainly  very  soon  after  the 
savages  had  started.  Convinced  from  ap- 


72        THE    CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

pearances  that  the  number  of  Indians  was 
far  too  great  to  render  it  prudent  for  them 
to  attempt  to  follow,  they  hastily  buried  the 
bodies  of  the  three  children,  by  placing  them 
together  in  a  sunken  place  in  the  earth,  and 
throwing  some  clay  over  them,  and  returned 
to  Bluestone  the  same  evening,  to  secure  the 
safety  of  their  own  families,  and  raise  a  larger 
force  to  go  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  Joseph 
Davidson  immediately  started  to  Colonel 
Cloyd,  the  officer  in  command  of  the  militia 
in  that  part  of  Virginia.  The  distance  he 
had  to  travel  was  about  seventy  miles.  On 
the  evening  of  the  fourth  day,  a  company  of 
forty  men  reached  the  valley.  They  at  once 
started  on  the  trail  with  the  hope  of  over 
taking  the  Indians  before  they  reached  the 
Ohio,  but  afterwards  abandoned  the  enter 
prise.  On  their  return,  they  found  the  body 
of  Captain  Moore,  and  buried  it  where  it  had 
fallen.  The  grave  was  made  by  removing 
some  earth  from  the  place  where  a  large  tree 
had  been  uprooted  by  a  storm ;  the  body  was 
wrapped  in  a  saddle-blanket  and  covered  up. 
A  Lead-stone  now  marks  the  place,  put  up 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB*S   VALLEY.         73 

many  years  afterward  by  his  two  sons,  and 
the  husband  of  his  daughter,  bearing  this  in 
scription  :  "  Captain  James  Moore,  killed  by 
the  Indians  1786." 

Amongst  the  other  things  taken  by  the 
Indians,  were  three  horses,  one  of  which, 
though  very  valuable  to  a  man  largely  en 
gaged  in  raising  this  kind  of  stock,  as  his 
owner  had  been,  was  so  vicious  that  none  of 
the  family  ever  attempted  to  manage  him, 
except  the  Englishman,  Simpson,  who  had 
been  trained  to  the  business  of  ostler  in  Eng 
land.  This  horse,  whose  name  was  Yorick, 
had  never  been  used  for  either  working  or 
riding,  except  when  Simpson  rode  him  occa 
sionally.  Sometime  in  the  second  day,  the 
Indians  who  had  hitherto  led  him,  concluded 
that  they  would  ride  him ;  and  one  of  them 
mounted  him.  The  horse  instantly  threw 
him,  and  killed  him  by  striking  him  with  his 
fore-feet.  Not  daunted  by  this,  another  of 
them  attempted  to  ride  him,  and  soon  shared 
the  fate  of  the  first.  A  third,  a  large  and 
very  strong  man,  who  prided  himself  on  his 
power  and  skill  in  managing  a  wild  horse, 
7 


74   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY. 

then  mounted  him  to  subdue  him ;  but  with  a 
few  plunges  the  horse  threw  him  off,  and  lay 
ing  hold  of  him  with  his  teeth,  killed  him 
also.  He  was  then  given  up  as  too  vicious 
to  be  managed,  and  was  killed.  This  is 
the  tradition  current  in  that  region  a,t  this 
time. 

The  country  between  Abb's  Valley  and  the 
Ohio  river  is  one  of  the  most  mountainous 
tracts  in  Virginia  ;  and  at  the  period  to  which 
this  narrative  refers,  it  was  an  uninterrupted 
forest.  Through  this  the  savages  conducted 
their  prisoners  with  as  much  speed  as  they 
could,  encumbered  as  they  were  with  the 
spoils  gathered  in  their  attack  on  the  fron 
tiers.  The  fatigues  of  the  journey  were  met 
t>y  them  and  their  prisoners  with  very  differ 
ent  feelings.  Not  feeling  secure  from  pur 
suit  until  after  they  had  crossed  the  Ohio,  it 
was  their  custom  to  tie  each  of  the  prisoners 
securely  at  night,  and  an  Indian  lay  down  to 
sleep  beside  each  prisoner  with  the  end  of 
the  strap  in  one  hand,  and  the  tomahawk  in 
the  other.  It  was  understood  to  be  their  de 
sign  to  kill  the  prisoners  if  any  attempt 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ALB*S  VALLEY.    75 

should  be  made  to  rescue  them.  But  they 
did  not  travel  far  before  they  found  occasion 
to  gratify  their  thirst  for  the  blood  of  their 
captives.  John  was  a  feeble  lad,  and  finding 
him  unable  to  bear  the  fatigue  of  the  journey, 
at  the  rate  they  were  travelling,  he  was  suf 
fered  to  fall  behind  with  one  of  their  num 
ber,  on  the  second  day.  When  out  of  sight 
Df  the  company,  his  head  was  split  with  the 
tomahawk ;  and  the  bloody  scalp  hanging  in 
the  belt  of  him  by  whom  he  was  murdered, 
told  the  mother  what  had  been  the  fate  of 
her  son.  The  infant  was  fretful,  and  was 
taken  from  the  arms  of  her  mother,  her 
brains  dashed  out  against  a  tree,  and  the  life 
less  body  thrown  away.  What  the  feelings 
of  the  captive  mother  were  under  these  ac 
cumulated  trials  cannot  be  imagined.  Truly 
her  cup  of  sorrow  was  full ;  and  if  anything 
could  make  her  desire  to  live,  it  could  only 
be  her  two  captive  daughters.  In  her  cir 
cumstances  she  needed  a  large  measure  of 
the  grace  of  God  to  sustain  her  ;  and  although 
we  know  not  what  the  exercises  of  her  mind 
were,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  God 


76         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S   VALLEY. 

upheld  her ;  for  he  hath  said,  "  I  will  never 
leave  tliee  nor  forsake  thee." 

The  Ohio  was  crossed  at  the  mouth  of 
Sandy,  and  then  the  party  directed  their 
course  to  the  Scioto.  At  several  points 
Black  Wolf  showed  Mrs.  Moore  the  marks 
he  had  made  on  the  return  from  his  former 
expedition,  and  gave  her  to  understand  that 
it  was  by  him  her  son  had  been  taken  pri 
soner. 

The  return  of  the  warriors  bringing  so 
many  scalps,  so  many  prisoners,  and  such  a 
rich  booty  as  had  been  gained  in  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  two  families  in  Tazewell,  produced 
much  rejoicing  in  the  villages  to  which  they 
belonged.  But  in  this  rejoicing  there  was 
one  of  their  number  who  did  not  share.  The 
same  chief  who  had  reproved  Wolf  when  he 
returned  with  James  in  captivity,  again  assem 
bled  the  warriors,  and  delivered  an  earnest 
address  to  them.  The  captives  afterwards 
understood  that  he  attempted  to  convince 
them,  that  these  plundering  expeditions  did 
not  weaken  the  strength  of  their  enemies,  and 
would  certainly  produce  a  war  with  the  white 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    77 

man,  which  would  lead  to  the  invasion  of  their 
country,  and  the  great  injury,  if  not  the  ruin, 
of  their  tribe.  This  he  clearly  foresaw.  But 
the  restless,  plunder-loving  warriors  thought 
not  so.  They  listened  to  him,  but  when  he 
had  concluded,  they  shook  their  heads  in 
token  of  disapprobation,  and  went  away  in 
sullen  silence. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

AFTER  Mrs.  Moore  and  her  fellow  captives 
reached  the  Indian  towns,  they  were  not 
treated  with  cruelty.  Martha  Evans  and 
Mary  were  taken  to  one  village,  Jane  and 
her  mother  to  another.  In  being  thus  thrown 
together  there  was  some  alleviation  to  their 
sorrows.  The  mother  and  the  daughter  in 
one  case,  and  the  young  woman  and  the  little 
girl  in  the  other,  could  see  each  other  every 
day.  The  sight  of  a  well-known  face  would 
give  comfort ;  and  they  could  talk  about  the 
possibility  of  the  success  of  some  plan  that 
might  be  adopted  by  their  friends  to  rescue 
them ;  and  in  all  the  forlornness  of  their 
present  condition,  hope  would  sometimes 
cheer  them  with  the  prospect  of  happier  days, 
and  paint  brighter  scenes  in  the  future.  With 
a  part  of  them,  these  cheerful  glimmerings 
were  all  illusions.  The  days  of  their  cap- 
(78) 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.    79 

tivity  speedily  and  unexpectedly  came  to  a 
tragical  end. 

A  party  of  Cherokees  had  made  a  march 
to  attack  some  of  the  settlements  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  and  had  been  unsuccessful. 
They  were  discovered  on  their  approach,  were 
defeated,  and  some  of  their  number  killed. 
On  their  return,  with  spirits  chafed  by  dis 
appointment  and  burning  for  vengeance,  they 
came  to  the  towns  where  the  captives  taken 
in  the  late  expedition  of  the  Shawnecs  were 
living  ;  and  as  these  were  the  only  white  per 
sons  in  their  reach,  they  determined  to  put 
them  to  death,  if  by  any  means  they  could 
accomplish  it.  Their  plan  was  to  get  the 
Shawnees  drunk,  and  then  they  could  be  in 
duced  to  join  in  killing  their  captives.  The 
first  part  of  the  plan  was  accomplished  very 
easily ;  but  some  of  the  Indian  women  sus 
pecting  their  object,  removed  M;rtha  and 
Mary,  and  secreted  them  at  a  distance  from 
the  town,  and  kept  them  there  until  after  the 
Cherokees  had  started  for  their  homes, 

The  precise  manner  in  which  Mrs.  Moore 
and  her  daughter  were  put  to  death  is 


80         THE   CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY. 

not  known.  It  was  generally  believed  that 
they  were  tortured  with  all  the  cruelty  that 
savage  malignity  could  practise.  In  confir 
mation  of  this  opinion,  there  is  the  fullest 
evidence  that  they  were  burned ;  and  it  is 
not  known  that  the  savages  ever  burned  the 
bodies  of  any  but  those  whom  they  put  to 
death  by  torture.  In  this  way,  this  woman 
of  sorrow,  whose  husband  and  five  children 
had  been  murdered  in  the  commencement  of 
her  trials,  was  called  to  exchange  days  of 
exile  from  her  friends,  and  captivity  amongst 
the  savages,  for  the  rest  that  remaineth  for 
the  people  of  God.  If  the  last  step  to  that 
rest  was  painful  as  barbarous  malignity  could 
make  it,  in  that  hour  she  was  sustained  by 
Him,  to  whom  years  before  she  had  committed 
her  deathless  soul,  with  all  her  interests  in 
time  and  eternity.  And  who  will  not  hope, 
yea  rather  believe,  that  her  daughter,  that 
child  of  the  covenant,  the  object  of  the  pious 
mother's  anxious  prayers  in  her  last  moments, 
passed  with  her  into  that  blessed  abode, 
"where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 
and  the  weary  are  at  rest ;"  where  the 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.         81 

good  Shepherd  leads  Iris  flock  to  the  living 
waters,  and  the  Lord  God  wipes  away  all 
tears  from  all  faces. 

A  few  days  subsequent  to  this  bloody  scene, 
the  last  in  the  melancholy  tragedy  of  Abb's 
Valley,  Mary  and  Martha  were  brought  to 
the  town  where  it  had  taken  place.  She 
missed  her  mother  and  her  sister.  No  one 
told  her  what  had  become  of  them  ;  but  when 
she  saw  the  half-burned  bones  amongst  the 
ashes  and  extinguished  brands,  she  knew 
at  once  what  their  end  had  been.  It  is  not 
known  whether,  in  the  desolation  of  her  heart, 
she  sat  down  and  wept,  or  whether  her  sor 
row  was  too  deep  to  vent  itself  in  that  way. 
But  this  little  girl,  now  in  the  tenth  year  of 
her  age,  felt  that  there  was  still  one  duty  that 
devolved  on  her.  She  got  a  hoe  from  an  In 
dian  woman,  dug  as  deep  as  she  could  in  the 
earth,  gathered  the  bones  with  her  own  hands, 
placed  them  in  the  imperfect  grave  which  she 
had  prepared,  covered  them  with  the  earth, 
and  placed  a  stone  there.  Of  her  it  might 
be  said  with  truth,  "  She  hath  done  what  she 
could."  Now  she  was  an  orphan  indeed 


82         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY 

She  had  no  parents  on  earth,  but  she  had  a 
Father  in  heaven.  There  is  reason  to  belie v* 
that  at  this  early  period  in  hev  life,  her  affec 
tions  rested  on  him;  and  that  her  trust  was 
in  him  who  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for 
of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  One 
fact  in  her  history  illustrating  the  state  of 
her  mind  may  be  related  in  this  connection. 
When  the  Indians  had  gathered  everything  out 
of  her  father's  house,  and  had  placed  in  a  pile 
to  be  burned  all  they  did  not  design  to  carry 
away  ;  after  they  had  kindled  -the  fire,  she 
stepped  to  the  place,  took  up  two  New  Tes 
taments,  placed  them  under  her  arm,  and 
with  them  started  into  her  captivity.  One 
of  these  she  retained  in  every  vicissitude,  till 
she  was  free  from  all  who  had  injured  arid 
oppressed  her.  Whatever  else  she  may  have 
left  or  lost,  she  retained  her  Testament ;  and 
whatever  else  God  may  have  suffered  her  to 
be  deprived  of,  he  did  not  permit  his  word  to 
be  taken  from  her.  When  brighter  days  shone 
upon  her,  she  could  say  with  the  Psalmist, 
"  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the 
house  of  my  pilgrimage." 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB  S   VALLEY.        8d 

The  Shawnees  of  the  Chillicothe  towns  had 
been  more  successful  than  most  other  bands, 
in  their  marauding  expeditions  to  the  frontier 
settlements  ;  and  the  wise  and  pacific  counsels 
of  their  old  chief  had  been  disregarded ;  but 
the  day  of  retribution  came.  Late  in  the 
autumn  of  1786,  a  party  of  the  whites  made 
an  incursion  into  the  Indian  country  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  these  villages.  Whether 
this  was  a  force  sent  out  by  the  United  States, 
or  whether  it  was  a  partisan  band ;  where  it 
was  from,  or  who  commanded  it,  are  points 
on  which  the  writer  of  this  story  never  has 
learned  anything  satisfactory.  All  that  he 
ever  has  known  respecting  it  was  communi 
cated  to  him  by  one  of  the  captives.  These 
did  not  see  it.  They  only  saw  the  work  of 
desolation  which  had  been  wrought,  and  felt 
its  effects.  In  the  first  instance,  its  effects  on 
them  were  a  great  increase  of  their  suffer 
ings  ;  but  resulted  in  the  speedy  termination 
of  their  stay  with  the  Indians. 

The  Indians  had  but  short  notice  of  the 
approach  of  their  enemies,  and  the  strength 
of  the  party  that  was  coming  against  them, 


84   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

They  were  convinced,  however,  that  there 
was  no  chance  for  successful  resistance ;  and 
hastily  removing  all  their  effects  that  they 
could  carry  with  them  they  made  their  escape 
into  the  interminable  forests  by  which  they 
were  surrounded.  Martha  Evans,  who,  from 
the  movements  of  the  Indians,  suspected  what 
was  about  to  take  place,  endeavoured  to  give 
some  information  respecting  herself  and  her 
fellow-captive,  by  writing  on  the  doors  of  some 
of  the  huts,  and  on  the  bark  of  some  of  the 
trees  with  charcoal.  It  is  not  known  that  this 
was  noticed  by  any  of  those  for  whom  it  was 
intended. 

When  the  forces  reached  the  towns,  they 
found  them  entirely  deserted,  and  everything 
carried  off  that  could  be  taken  away.  The 
scanty  stock  of  provisions  for  the  winter,  and 
the  rude  huts  were  all  that  was  left.  Fire 
was  applied  to  these,  and  everything  was  con 
sumed.  The  troops  in  due  time  returned  to 
tell  of  their  success ;  but  this  expedition,  like 
the  plunderings  of  the  Indians,  did  no  good ; 
but  on  the  contrary,  produced  evil  and  only 
evil.  Its  result  was  a  winter  of  intense  suf- 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.         85 

fering  to  the  Indians,  a  state  of  increased 
exasperation  of  feeling,  and  a  stern  deter 
mination  to  avenge  themselves  the  next  sum 
mer.  If  it  is  right  to  render  evil  for  evil, 
then  the  Indian  had  as  many  wrongs  to  re 
dress  as  the  white  man.  But  if  God's  law  is, 
"  Render  evil  for  evil  to  no  man  ;"  "  if  thine 
enemy  hunger,  feed  him  ;  if  he  thirst  give 
him  drink;"  then  the  whole  of  this  system 
was  wrong  on  both  sides ;  and  so  much  the 
more  wrong  on  the  part  of  the  wrhite  man,  aa 
he  was  so  much  better  informed  concerning 
the  law  of  God  than  the  red  man  was. 

When  the  Indians  returned  after  the  troops 
had  left,  they  saw  at  once  the  utter  impossi 
bility  of  spending  the  winter  there.  The 
only  resource  left  them  was  to  go  to  Canada, 
and  from  the  French  inhabitants,  whose  allies 
they  had  been  in  the  wars  that  preceded  the 
American  revolution,  and  from  the  British 
whom  they  had  aided  in  that  struggle,  seek 
the  means  of  avoiding  starvation  in  the  long 
winter  that  was  before  them.  No  time  was 
to  be  lost,  for  winter  was  at  hand,  and  they 
had  before  them  a  journey  of  several  hundred 
8 


86         THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S   VALLEY. 

miles  to  be  made  by  men,  women,  and  child 
ren,  through  a  dreary  wilderness  in  this  in 
hospitable  season. 

The  sufferings  of  the  whole  party  were 
very  great.  At  an  early  stage  in  their  jour 
ney  the  snow  commenced  falling,  they  killed 
very  little  game,  all  were  scantily  clad,  their 
tents  were  indifferent ;  and  in  part  of  their 
journey  the  fruit  of  the  hackberry  was  almost 
their  only  food.  *  This  they  broke  in  their 
iron  mortars,  then  boiled  it,  and  drank  the 
broth.  It  was  in  the  month  of  December 
that  they  got  to  Detroit,  which  was  not  then 
as  it  is  now,  a  flourishing  city,  with  a  dense 
population  around  it ;  but  merely  a  military 
and  trading  post,  with  a  few  scattered  inha 
bitants  in  its  vicinity.  The  Indians  crossed 
over  into  Canada,  and  spent  the  winter  in  the 
peninsula  between  Detroit  and  Lake  Erie. 
In  a  drunken  frolic,  Mary  was  sold  for  a  few 
gallons  of  rum  to  a  man  named  Stogwell,  who 
had  been  an  active  tory  during  the  war,  and 
had  removed  to  Canada  after  it  closed,  for 
fear  of  losing  his  life  if  he  remained  in  the 
United  States. 


READING    THE    BIBLE.  Page   87 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.        87 

A  little  before  she  ceased  to  live  with  the 
Indians,  Martha  Evans  was  purchased  from 
them  by  a  man  whose  name  was  Caldwell. 
He  was  an  unprincipled  man,  and  treated  her 
very  badly.  How  long  she  remained  with 
him  is  not  now  known ;  but  by  some  means 
she  passed  out  of  his  hands,  and  became  an 
inmate  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Dolson,  a  wealthy, 
kind,  respectable  Englishman,  in  whose  family 
her  situation  was  as  comfortable  as  separation 
from  her  home  would  permit  it  to  be.  Thus 
the  young  woman  and  the  little  girl  were  both 
released  from  their  captors  before  the  spring 
opened,  when  they  set  off  to  return  to  their 
place  of  abode. 

Mary's  stay  with  her  captors  had  been 
attended  with  peculiar  danger.  She  was 
placed  in  the  family  of  an  inferior  chief,  who 
always  showed  kindness  to  her.  •  He  often 
called  her  to  read  to  him  out  of  her  New 
Testament ;  and  although  he  did  not  under 
stand  the  language,  it  amused  him  to  hear 
her  read.  Sometimes  the  other  children  of 
the  family  would  hide  her  books  to  tease  her, 
and  pretend  that  they  were  lost  or  destroyed ; 


88         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

and  one  of  them  was  at  last  lost  in  this  way. 
When  she  appealed  to  him,  he  always  promptly 
interfered  and  caused  them  to  be  restored. 
His  wife  was  a  woman  of  violent  passions, 
and  sometimes  vented  them  on  the  children 
in  a  storm  of  rage  ;  but  it  is  not  known  that 
she  ever  manifested  any  special  unkindness 
to  the  captive  little  girl.  Her  danger  came 
from  another  source.  It  never  had  been  fully 
settled  to  which  of  her  captors  she  belonged, 
and  several  of  them  claimed  her.  The  con 
sequence  was,  that  in  the  angry  discussions 
of  the  question  of  property,  they  were  often 
on  the  point  of  killing  her  to  end  the  dispute. 
The  young  squaws  were  all  kind  to  her ;  and 
it  was  by  their  timely  interference  that  she 
was  snatched  from  danger  more  than  once. 
Her  only  means  of  safety  when  the  subject 
of  dispute  had  been  started,  was  concealment 
till  the  anger  produced  by  it  had  passed 
away.  After  night,  on  one  occasion,  two 
young  women  came  in  haste  to  where  she 
was,  with  terror  in  their  countenances,  saying, 
as  they  drew  near,  "  Run,  Mary,  run  !"  She 
instantly  ran  from  the  fire  into  the  forest,  so 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB  S   VALLEY.         89 

as  to  be  entirely  concealed  by  the  darkness, 
and  soon  saw  the  angry  disputants  come  in 
search  of  her.  It  was  a  very  cold  night.  She 
had  not  taken  with  her  the  thin  blanket  which 
she  usually,  wrapped  round  her  in  very  cold 
weathei  ;  her  clothing  was  very  thin,  and  to 
preserve  herself  from  being  frozen,  she  was 
obliged  to  move  about  briskly  for  several 
hours  before  she  dared  return  to  the  fire.  In 
all  these  dangers  the  unseen  hand  of  God 
was  her  protection.  In  his  purpose  she  had 
some  not  unimportant  service  to  render  to  her 
generation ;  and  till  her  work  was  accom 
plished,  her  life  could  not  end. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

JAMES  MOORE  had  been  actively  employed, 
and  not  unpleasantly  situated,  in  the  family 
of  Mr.  Ariome.  They  treated  him  as  a  son, 
gave  him  good  advice,  and  Mrs.  Ariome  urged 
him  not  to  abandon  the  idea  of  returning  to 
his  friends.  He  sometimes  assisted  in  the 
labours  of  the  farm,  and  at  other  time»  ac 
companied  Mr.  Ariome  in  his  trading  trips. 
In  one  of  these  expeditions,  he  met  with  a 
Shawnee,  who  had  been  one  of  the  party 
that  made  the  attack  on  his  father's  family, 
who  told  him  what  had  happened  to  them. 
This  intelligence  he  received  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  same  summer  in  which  the  family 
was  broke?,  up.  In  the  following  winter  he 
learned  that  his  sister  was  in  Canada,  and 
heard  of  her  leaving  the  Indians  soon  after 
that  event  took  place.  As  soon  as  he  heard 
where  she  was,  he  made  preparation  to  visit 
iier.  This  was  not  an  easy  thing,  for  the 
(90) 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB*S   VALLEY.         91 

distance  was  over  sixty  miles,  and  the  way  he 
must  go  led  principally  through  a  wilderness. 
To  pass  through  it  in  the  depth  of  a  Canada 
winter  was  not  only  difficult,  but  attended 
with  danger.  Before  he  could  make  his 
arrangements  for  starting,  he  met  Mr.  Stog- 
well,  who  informed  him  that  as  early  as  he 
could  travel  in  the  spring,  he  would  remove 
his  family  to  the  neighbourhood  in  which  Mr. 
Ariome  was  living ;  and  in  consequence  of 
this  information,  he  abandoned  the  plan  of 
visiting  her  where  she  then  was.  As  soon 
as  he  heard  that  Mr.  Stogwell  had  arrived  at 
his  new  home,  he  went  to  see  his  sister.  The 
meeting  was  one  of  intense  interest  to  both 
of  them.  How  different  wras  their  situation 
then  from  what  it  had  been  when  last  they 
had  seen  each  other  in  Abb's  Valley !  Through 
what  toils,  and  dangers,  and  trials  had  both 
of  them  passed  !  What  a  crowd  of  recollec 
tions  would  rush  into  the  mind  of  each  !  How 
much  would  each  have  to  tell  the  other  !  But 
on  some  accounts  the  meeting  was  far  mure 
painful  to  the  brother  than  to  the  sister.  She 
saw  every  evidence  that  his  new  home  was  to 


92         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S   VALL1SY. 

him  a  place  of  comfort,  where  he  was  treated 
with  kindness.  But  everything  showed  him 
that  her  home  was  a  place  of  deep  suffering. 
Except  in  point  of  safety,  her  situation  wa? 
worse  than  when  she  was  with  the  Indians 
He  has  since  told  what  his  impressions  were 
when  he  first  saw  her.  She  was  clothed  in 
rags,  emaciated  and  care-worn,  the  picture 
of  destitution  and  wretchedness.  When  far 
advanced  in  life,  he  said  he  had  never  seen  a 
person  who  looked  so  miserable  as  she  did. 

Stogwell,  into  whose  hands  she  had  fallen, 
was  a  base,  cruel  man.  He  had  no  feeling 
of  compassion  for  the  orphan  girl  ;  and  had 
bought  her  from  the  savages,  not  to  do  her  a 
kindness,  but  to  make  her  his  slave,  and  after 
a  few  years  at  most,  receive  a  much  larger 
sum  for  her  ransom  than  he  had  paid  for  her. 
She  never  could  speak  of  her  treatment  in 
that  family,  but  with  deep  feeling.  In  the 
extremity  of  her  hunger,  she  often  went  to 
the  vessel  in  which  the  dishes  had  been 
washed,  and  gathered  the  crumbs  of  bread 
that  were  floating  in  the  water,  and  ate  them. 
Hardship  in  every  shape  was  her  portion. 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY.         93 

Simon  Girty  is  a  name  that  has  descended 
•with  infamy  from  the  period  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  There  will  be  occasion  to  speak  of  him 
again  in  another  part  of  this  narrative.  But 
he  performed  at  least  one  generous  act;  and 
as  his  evil  deeds  have  been  handed  down,  it 
is  but  just  that  the  only  praiseworthy  act 
which  he  is  known  to  have  done,  should  not  pass 
unrecorded.  He  witnessed  the  sufferings  of 
Mary  Moore,  and  advised  her  brother  to 
lodge  a  complaint  against  Stogwell  before 
Colonel  McKee,  the  British  agent  for  Indian 
affairs.  James  acted  according  to  his  advice, 
in  the  hope  that  he  could  get  his  sister  out 
of  Stogwtdl'a  possession.  In  this  expecta 
tion  he  was  disappointed ;  but  the  cruel  man 
was  reprimanded,  and  it  was  decided  that  if 
an  opportunity  for  her  return  to  Virginia 
should  offer,  she  should  be  given  up  without 
ransom.  From  this  time  her  oppressor,  know 
ing  that  his  course  toward  her  was  watched, 
was  compelled  to  be  less  inhuman  than  he 
had  been. 

Martha,  James,  and  Mary  were  now  in  the 
same  neigYibourhood,  and  frequently  were  to 


94        THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S   VALLEY. 

getlier.  In  all  their  meetings  there  was  one 
subject  of  which  they  never  failed  to  speak, 
their  return  to  Virginia.  But  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  there  was  some  difference  of  feeling 
about  it.  Martha  h^d  a  father  and  mother, 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  a  home  to  return  to. 
She  often  thought  of  that  distant  home,  and 
all  the  pleasure  she  could  have  there  in  the 
society  of  those  she  loved.  With  her,  the 
subject  of  returning  was  always  one  of  much 
anxiety.  With  James  Moore,  the  case  was 
very  different.  His  home,  his  once  happy 
home,  was  a  desolation.  His  little  sister  was 
near  him ;  he  had  only  one  brother  left,  and 
the  family  in  which  he  lived  had  adopted  him 
as  one  of  their  own  number.  There  was  also 
in  that  family  a  daughter,  on  whom  the  affec 
tions  of  his  young  heart  were  fixed,  and  wLo 
was  believed  to  return  them.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  wonder  then  that  he  desired  to  re 
main  where  he  was,  and  endeavoured  to  dis 
courage  the  other  two  from  thinking  of  re 
turning  to  the  mountains  from  which  they 
had  been  torn,  and  the  scenes  associated  with 
all  the  pleasant  recollections  of  the  sweet 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.        95 

days  of  early  youth,  and  the  sports  of  joyous 
childhood.  In  his  feelings  on  this  subject 
his  sister  did  not  share.  Her  desires  were 
fixed  strongly  on  the  land  in  which  her  kin 
dred  were  dwelling.  While  with  the  Indians 
there  was  a  feeling  of  dread  constantly  pres 
ent  with  her,  lest  she  might  become  recon 
ciled  to  live  with  them.  She  had  heard  of 
cases  in  which  captives  had  become  attached 
to  the  savages  and  their  mode  of  life,  and 
had  remained  with  them  because  they  pre 
ferred  dom£  so.  The  very  thought  that  she 
might  do  this,  filled  her  mind  with  horror. 
She  had  met  with  nothing  to  attach  her  to 
anything  in  Canada ;  and  her  thoughts  and 
her  affections  constantly  tended  far  to  the 
south,  to  the  land  in  which  her  father  and 
her  mother  were  born.  There,  she  knew, 
were  many  near  kindred,  amongst  whom  she 
would  find  a  home.  Martha  and  Mary 
were  often  together  ;  and  the  young  woman 
and  the  little  girl,  whose  lots  had  been  cast 
together  in  scenes  of  bitter  suffering,  often 
conversed  on  the  subject  on  which  their  feel 
ings  harmonized  so  perfectly,  and  talked  over 


96    THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

many  plans  to  accomplish  that  which  they  so 
earnestly  desired.  They  did  not  know  of  the 
self-sacrificing  efforts  of  one  who  was  meeting 
every  danger,  and  bearing  every  hardship 
with  unflinching  perseverance,  whilst  endea 
vouring  to  find  them,  and  take  them  to  kind 
friends  and  kinsmen  who  had  bitterly  mourned 
over  their  hard  fate.  God  was  about  to  un 
fold  to  them  the  workings  of  his  counsel,  and 
lead  them  back  in  a  way  they  had  not  thought 
of.  We  must  now  go  back,  and  trace  the 
course  of  another  actor  in  the  drama  we  have 
been  reciting. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THOSE  who  are  familiar  with  the  frontiers, 
or  the  sparsely  settled  sections  of  our  coun 
try,  cannot  fail  to  have  noticed  one  custom, 
which  is  in  a  great  measure  peculiar  to  them. 
It  seems  to  have  existed  from  the  period  of 
the  formation  of  the  first  settlements  in  the 
country,  and  is  still  found  prevailing  in  many 
regions  with  all  the  freshness  of  a  new  fash 
ion.  The  thing  to  which  I  allude  is,  doing 
much  of  their  work,  not  hy  each  family  la 
bouring  alone  at  its  own  business,  but  by 
neighbours  exchanging  work  and  assisting 
each  other.  In  their  heavier  operations,  such 
as  building  their  log  dwellings  and  their 
barns,  and  rolling  together  the  heavy  logs  in 
their  clearings,  and  in  other  things  requiring 
the  strength  of  many,  we  can  see  at  once  the 
necessity  for  collecting  more  force  than  is 
usually  found  in  one  family.  But  it  is  by 
no  means  confined  to  operations  of  this  kind, 
9  (97) 


98         THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

Those  who  dwell  in  the  solitude  of  the  forest, 
and  cannot  see  from  their  own  doors  the  fields 
or  the  dwellings  of  others,  and  at  night  can 
not  hear  the  barking  of  any  dogs  but  their 
own  sentinels,  are  glad  of  any  occasion  that 
brings  them  to  spend  a  day  in  the  society  of 
their  neighbours  in  the  woods.  Under  the 
influence  of  this  feeling,  though  perhaps  not 
conscious  what  prompts  them  to  do  it,  to  n 
small  extent,  the  forests  are  cut  down,  the 
fences  are  put  up,  the  harvests  are  gathered 
by  what  are  called  in  some  places  u  bees," 
and  others  "  frolics."  To  the  hard-handed 
yeomanry,  with  their  simple  habits  and  rural 
tastes,  these  gatherings  are  seasons  of  no  lit 
tle  pleasure.  Each  expects  to  do  a  day  of 
hard  work,  when  he  joins  a  company  of  his 
neighbours,  either  before  sunrise  or  after  an 
early  breakfast ;  and  many  trials  of  strength 
and  skill  are  witnessed,  in  which  intense  exer 
tions  are  put  forth  for  hours  together.  But 
they  are  used  to  the  toil ;  and  the  day,  and 
if  circumstances  admit  of  it,  a  part  of  the 
night,  is  spent  in  not  less  real  pleasure  than 
city  beaux  and  belles  find  at  their  places  of 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLLY.    99 

public,  fashionable  resort,  or  in  their  brilliant 
parties.  And  if  the  results  on  health,  morals, 
and  happiness  are  to  be  regarded,  the  ad 
vantage  is  greatly  on  the  side  of  those  who, 
clothed  in  their  substantial  homespun,  seek 
their  pleasure  in  that  toil  which  a  wise  God 
has  appointed  to  man  as  the  means  of  pro 
curing  his  bread. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  July,  1786,  a  few  men 
had  met  on  one  of  the  small  farms  in  the 
settlement  on  one  of  the  branches  of  Blue- 
stone,  in  what  is  now  Giles  county,  to  reap  the 
harvest  of  John  Craw,  whose  log  cabin  and 
other  rude  buildings  marked  the  recent  lo 
cation  of  a  frontier  family.  A  short  time 
before  dinner,  when  they  were  resting  in  the 
shade  for  a  few  minutes,  and  refreshing  them 
selves  with  the  cool  water  of  a  sparkling 
spring  that  gushed  from  the  foot  of  a  hill, 
one  of  the  females  of  the  family  was  seen, 
coming  towards  them  from  the  house  at  a 
rapid  walk.  There  was  something  in  her 
manner,  which  told  them,  as  soon  as  they  saw 
her,  that  she  wras  coming  on  no  usual  errand* 
"  What  is  the  matter  ?"  said  one.  "  Look 


100      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

how  Ann  walks."  Their  merriment  was 
hushed  at  once,  and  one  of  their  number  re 
marked,  in  a  subdued,  anxious  tone  of  voice, 
"  Something  has  happened."  Every  eye  was 
fixed  on  her  as  she  drew  nearer,  and  each 
mind  was  busy  in  conjecturing  what  her  tid 
ings  would  be.  When  she  had  approached 
near  enough  to  be  heard,  she  ended  their 
suspense  by  saying,  "  There  is  dreadful  news 
from  Abb's  Valley."  She  then  went  on  tc 
tell  them  that  about  breakfast  time  that  morn 
ing,  as  William  Clark  and  Irish  John  were 
reaping,  they  saw  the  Indians  make  the  at 
tack,  and  heard  the  firing  of  their  guns ;  that 
they  made  their  escape  from  the  field  into 
the  woods ;  that  Clark  had  started  for  Da 
vidson's  fort,  and  John  for  the  settlement  on 
Bluestone ;  that  he  had  missed  the  way,  and 
instead  of  passing  over  the  distance  in  an 
hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours,  he  had  been 
five  hours  in  coming ;  that  he  found  the  way 
at  last  by  finding  some  horses  in  the  range 
which  he  frightened,  and  they  ran  home,  and 
he  followed  their  trail.  Long  before  her 
story  was  finished  the  sickles  were  gathered 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'3    VALLE7 ,  '  101 

up,  and  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  Louse. 
As  soon  as  possible  the  settlement  vas  in 
formed  of  the  danger,  the  families  gathered 
into  the  fort,  and  all  the  men  that  could  be 
spared,  started  for  the  valley.  The  state  of 
things  which  they  found  when  they  got  there, 
and  the  course  they  adopted,  have  been  re 
lated  in  a  previous  chapter. 

One  of  the  company  that  wTcnt  to  the  val 
ley  on  this  occasion  was  Thomas  Evans>  a 
brother  of  Martha  Evans,  whose  story  as  con 
nected  with  Mr.  Moore's  family  has  been  re 
lated  with  that  of  her  fellow  captives.  While 
returning  from  the  scene  of  desolation,  of 
course  the  fate  of  that  unfortunate  family 
was  the  chief  topic  of  conversation.  They 
felt  certain  that  the  father  of  the  family  had 
been  killed,  and  as  they  saw  the  half-burned 
bones  of  a  grown  person  in  the  ashes  of  the 
consumed  dwelling,  they  knewT  that  some  one 
of  the  family  had  been  killed,  and  left  in  the 
house  and  burned  with  it.  It  was  found  out 
afterwards  that  this  was  Simpson,  but  all  was 
uncertain  then;  and  various  opinions  were 
expressed  on  the  subject.  In  the  midst  of 
9* 


1C)2      THE'   CAPTIVES 'OF   ABB'S    VALLEY. 

this  talk,  Thomas,  who  took  but  little  part  in 
it,  was  revolving  in  his  mind  the  question  of 
going  for  his  sister.  It  was  several  days  be 
fore  he  hinted  to  any  one  the  matter  on  which 
his  thoughts  had  been  employed.  When  he 
had  formed  his  determination,  he  first  men 
tioned  the  plan  to  his  mother.  He  did  not 
tell  her  that  he  had  determined  to  go  for  his 
sister,  but  in  a  conversation  respecting  her, 
started  the  inquiry  whether  it  would  be  possi 
ble  to  rescue  her.  The  question  was  again  and 
again  earnestly  discussed  in  the  family,  and 
by  them  and  their  neighbours,  and  viewed  in 
all  its  bearings  before  he  told  any  one  that 
his  resolution  to  go  for  his  sister  had  been 
formed  on  the  first  day,  and  that  in  regard 
to  it,  his  mind  had  never  wavered. 

He  well  understood  from  the  first  all  the 
difficulties  of  the  undertaking,  and  they  were 
many.  It  was  not  known  by  what  tribe  she 
had  been  taken  prisoner.  All  that  was  known 
was,  that  when  leaving  the  valley,  the  trail 
led  toward  the  Ohio,  and  from  this  it  was  in 
ferred  that  it  was  one  of  the  tribes  living 
north  of  that  river  which  had  done  the  mis- 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      103 

chief;  but  it  could  not  be  ascertained  which 
of  them  it  was,  and  all  these  tribes  were  alike 
hostile.  He  dared  not,  therefore,  venture 
openly  and  alone  amongst  them.  To  do  so, 
would  be  to  expose  himself  to  certain  death, 
or  to  a  captivity  scarce  less  to  be  dreaded. 
In  these  circumstances,  how  could  he  begin 
the  enterprise  with  any  prospect  of  success  ? 
How  could  he  learn  where  his  sister  was  ? 
And  if  he  could  gain  this  intelligence,  how 
was  he  to  gain  access  to  her  ?  And  if  he 
could  get  to  her,  how  was  he  to  procure  her 
release  from  her  captors,  and  travel  with  her 
hundreds  of  miles,  in  the  whole  extent  of  which 
they  would  be  exposed  to  savage  enemies  ? 
He  thought  of  all  these  things,  and  without 
being  able  to  see  how  the  difficulties  were  to 
be  surmounted,  his  purpose  was  firmly  fixed 
to  commence  the  undertaking,  and  under  God 
rely  on  himself  to  meet  each  emergency  as 
it  might  arise.  The  man  that  had  the 
generosity  to  do  this,  and  the  mind  which 
qualified  him  to  succeed  in  the  undertak 
ing,  and  the  cool  courage  to  carry  him 
through  all  its  dangers,  deserves  to  be  hon- 


104   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

oured    with   a  monument  more  lasting  than 
marble. 

After  the  resolution  was  announced,  it  be 
came  a  matter  of  much  anxiety,  and  of  no 
little  difficulty,  to  arrange  the  plan  on  which 
the  attempt  should  be  made.  Thinking  it 
most  probable  that  it  was  the  Shawnees  that 
had  carried  off  his  sister,  he  determined  to 
go  to  that  tribe  first.  And  then  it  was  by  no 
means  an  easy  thing  to  determine  in  what 
manner  he  should  go.  His  own  feelings 
prompted  him  to  take  his  trusty  rifle,  both  as 
the  surest  means  of  procuring  food,  and  his 
best  protection  in  the  many  dangers  to  which 
he  w^ell  knew  he  would  be  exposed.  But 
there  were  others  who  thought  differently, 
and  it  became  a  point  of  anxious  reflection 
and  of  much  consultation.  The  older  men, 
and  those  best  acquainted  with  Indian  habits 
and  feelings,  advised  that  the  rifle  should  be 
left  at  home  :  that  he  should  not  appear  as  a 
warrior,  but  as  a  peaceful  man,  on  an  errand 
of  peace,  and  that  he  should  carry  with  him 
as  much  provisions  as  would  last  him  till  he 
should  reach  the  Indian  towns.  This  coun- 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.      105 

sel  lie   at  length  acceded  to,  and  made  his 
preparations  accordingly. 

It  was  about  the  first  of  September,  1786, 
that  he  left  his  father's,  and  plunged  into  the 
unbroken  forests  of  the  west  to  seek  his  sis 
ter.  It  was  a  day  of  deep  interest  to  the 
settlement  generally,  and  to  his  father's  fam 
ily  especially.  For  some  time  the  prepara 
tions  had  been  in  progress  and  on  the  pre 
vious  day,  an  affectionate  mother,  who  had 
two  children  at  stake  in  the  enterprise,  had 
been  busily  engaged  in  preparing  the  food  he 
was  to  carry  with  him.  She  would  not  trust 
that  work  to  any  other  hands.  Many  of  the 
neighbours  had  assembled  to  see  him  start , 
and  amongst  others,  and  by  no  means  the 
least  interested  of  the  group,  was  Ann  Crow, 
to  whom  he  was  to  have  been  married  in  the 
following  month.  The  whole  thing  had  been 
thought  over,  and  talked  over  by  them  again 
and  again.  They  could  not  but  feel  that 
they  might  be  parting  to  meet  no  more  ;  but 
on  this  they  did  not  suffer  their  minds  to 
dwell.  He  felt  that  he  must  make  the  at 
tempt  to  find  and  bring  back  his  sister  ;  that 


106      THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB*S    VALLEY. 

if  lie  did  not,  his  future  life  would  be  rendered 
bitter  by  the  reflection,  that  she  had  been 
abandoned  to  her  hard  fate  without  an  effort 
to  save  her.  And  whatever  may  have  been 
the  feelings  that  moved  in  the  lowest  depths 
of  Ann's  heart,  they  were  repressed,  and  she 
was  one  of  those  who  most  steadily  cheered 
him  to  undertake  the  enterprise.  No  one  in 
the  company  shed  a  tear,  when  with  his  knap 
sack  on  his  shoulders,  his  knife  and  tomahawk 
in  his  belt,  and  a  trusty  pistol  concealed  under 
his  clothing,  he  bade  all  farewell ;  and,  fol 
lowed  by  many  hearty  prayers  to  God  that 
he  would  crown  his  efforts  with  success,  turned 
his  steps  toward  the  Ohio. 

Few  men  could  have  been  found  better 
calculated  to  succeed  in  the  enterprise  in 
which  he  had  engaged.  He  was  in  the  full 
strength  of  early  manhood,  healthy,  hardy, 
active,  capable  of  enduring  much  hardship, 
an  expert  woodsman,  fearless,  cautious,  cool, 
and  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  and  no 
tions  of  the  Indians. 

Most  of  the  incidents  of  his  travels  are  now 
"hopelessly  lost.  The  effort  to  secure  them  in 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   107 

a  form  that  would  not  depend  on  tradition 
for  their  preservation,  was  not  made  till  it 
was  too  lato  All  that  is  known  are  the  lead 
ing  points  in  the  story,  and  some  of  its  de 
tails  gathered  from  those  who  in  by-gone 
days  often  heard  them,  but  for  many  years 
have  tnought  very  little,  and  talked  less  about 
them. 

At  the  period  when  Mr.  Evans  started  to 
seek  for  his  sister,  the  Indians  north  of  the 
Ohio  were  constantly  committing  depreda 
tions  on  the  frontiers  ;  but  still  there  were 
occasional  opportunities  of  access  to  them. 
There  was  always  very  great  risk  run  by  any 
white  man  who  placed  himself  in  their  power ; 
except  a  few  who  in  time  of  peace  had  traded 
with  them.  But  this  risk,  Thomas  understood 
fully  from  the  first,  was  part  of  the  danger 
he  had  to  encounter.  By  some  means  not  now 
remembered,  he  succeeded  in  getting  into  the 
company  of  Girty  and  Conoly,  two  renegade 
white  men  who  generally  staid  amongst  the 
Indians,  and  were  engaged  in  trading  with 
them.  These  two  men  were  thought  to  have 
instigated  much  of  the  plundering  which  the 


108      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S    VALLEY. 

Indians  did  on  the  frontiers.  To  this  day 
their  names  and  memories  are  detested,  by 
the  descendants  of  those  who  were  harassed 
with  perpetual  uneasiness,  from  the  tamper 
ing  of  these  men  with  the  savages.  Evans' 
feelings  revolted  at  having  anything  to  do 
with  such  men  ;  but  through  them  he  sup 
posed  he  might  get  to  one  of  the  Shawnee 
towns  in  safety,  and  then  the  first  great  dan 
ger  would  be  over.  When  he  met  with  them, 
they  both  professed  a  willingness  to  aid  him, 
but  at  the  same  time  told  him  that  they  did 
not  believe  that  either  his  sister  or  any  of  the 
Moore  family  had  been  taken  captive  by  the 
Shawnees.  He  travelled  much  in  the  com 
pany  of  these  two  men  ;  and  in  the  course  of 
the  autumn,  arid  winter,  and  spring,  visited 
twenty-one  towns  in  different  tribes,  but 
could  not  hear  any  tidings  of  his  sister.  He 
was  fully  satisfied  afterward,  that  the  two 
renegades  had  taken  active  measures  to  pre 
vent  the  Indians  from  giving  him  the  infor 
mation  he  sought ;  and  they  were  aided  in 
this  effort  by  the  circumstance  which  has  been 
mentioned  before,  that  the  Indians,  amongst 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB?S   VALLEY.      109 

whom  Martha  was,  had  been  compelled  to  go 
to  Canada.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  spring, 
he  heard  that  there  was  to  be  a  meeting 
somewhere  on  the  border  of  Kentucky,  for 
the  purpose  of  the  ransom  of  prisoners.  To 
that  treaty  he  went,  in  company  with  some  of 
the  savages,  hoping  to  meet  with  his  sister 
there,  or  at  least  that  he  would  get  some 
tidings  of  her.  At  that  place  he  saw  some 
one  who  had  been  a  prisoner,  from  whom  he 
got  the  information  that  his  sister  had  been 
sold  to  a  white  man  in  Canada,  and  was  liv 
ing  not  far  from  Detroit.  This  at  once  de 
termined  his  future  course.  He  went  home 
to  get  more  money,  and  a  supply  of  clothing, 
before  setting  off  for  Canada. 

It  was  a  moment  of  intense  anxiety  when 
he  was  seen  approaching  his  father's  house 
alone.  As  each  one  in  succession  grasped 
his  hand  with  eyes  filled  with  tears,  no  one 
could  gather  courage  to  say,  "  Where  is 
Martha  ?"  Who  can  tell  the  relief  that  was 
given  to  anxious  hearts  when  he,  seeing  their 
suspense,  said,  "  Martha  is  safe  with  the  Eng 
lish  in  Canada."  Then  he  recounted  all  the 
10 


110     THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

incidents  that  had  occurred  from  the  time  he 
had  started.  The  family  had  never  heard 
anything  of  him  after  he  had  passed  the  first 
fifty  miles  on  his  way  ;  and  it  was  a  tale  of 
thrilling  interest  to  which  they  listened.  He 
had  been  absent  rather  more  than  nine 
months,  and  these  had  been  months  of  con 
stant  danger  and  exposure;  as  almost  the 
whole  time  had  been  spent  either  alone  in  the 
wilderness,  or  in  the  company  of  hostile  sava 
ges.  It  has  been  stated  already,  that  most 
of  the  incidents  of  this  trip  have  been  lost ; 
but  some  facts  are  remembered  which  show 
very  clearly  the  great  dangers  to  which  he 
was  exposed.  ' 

On  one  occasion  he  was  travelling  in  com 
pany  with  Girty  and  Conoly,  and  two  Indi 
ans.  They  halted  for  a  day  under  the  pre 
text  of  hunting  ;  and  as  Thomas  had  no  gun, 
he  was  left  at  the  camp.  As  they  had  stayed 
away  much  longer  than  he  had  expected,  he 
determined  to  leave  the  camp  and  go  on,  and 
leave  them  to  overtake  him  that  evening.  He 
accordingly  arranged  everything,  and  having 
fastened  a  stick  in  the  ground,  he  made  a  slit 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   Ill 

in  the  top,  and  placed  a  leaf  in  it,  to  point 
out  to  them  the  direction  he  had  taken.  Just 
as  he  was  about  starting,  he  saw  the  four 
coming  toward  the  camp  with  their  faces 
painted  black.  This  at  once  told  him  that 
an  attempt  would  be  made  to  take  his  life. 
If  he  had  been  fully  armed,  it  would  have 
seemed  a  hopeless  thing  for  him  to  contend 
with  the  four ;  how  much  more  desperate  was 
his  condition,  unarmed  as  he  was !  Retaining 
his  presence  of  mind,  and  keeping  his  eye  on 
every  movement,  at  the  distance  of  about  fifty 
steps,  he  saw  two  of  them  level  their  guns  to 
shoot  at  him.  At  this  instant  he  sprang  be 
hind  a  small  sugar  maple,  not  more  than  half 
the  thickness  of  his  body,  which,  of  course, 
left  him  much  exposed.  Both  rifles  were 
fired,  and  he  felt  himself  untouched.  He 
immediately  sprang  to  another  small  tree, 
and  the  other  two  discharged  their  rifles  at 
him,  but  missed  him.  As  all  the  guns  were 
then  empty,  he  started  to  run,  and  the  four 
pursued.  After  he  had  gone  a  short  distance, 
he  noticed  a  tall  tree  lying  across  his  course, 
which,  resting  on  some  of  the  limbs  and  the 


112     THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY. 

roots,  was  raised  so  much  from  the  ground  as 
to  render  it  doubtful  whether  he  could  spring 
over  it,  and  certain  that  he  could  not  pass 
under  it  without  a  fatal  loss  of  time.  Neither 
could  he  pass  round  either  end  of  it,  without 
such  a  loss  of  distance  as  might  enable  one 
or  more  of  them  to  overtake  him  ;  for,  cast 
ing  a  look  behind,  lie  discovered  that  they 
had  noticed  the  state  of  things  sooner  than 
he  had,  and  that  one  of  them  was  bearing 
to  the  right,  and  another  to  the  left,  with  the 
view  of  intercepting  him.  As  he  came  near 
the  log,  they  all  shouted ;  but  gathering  his 
strength  for  an  effort  on  which  his  life  de 
pended,  he  succeeded  in  leaping  over.  Three 
of  the  pursuers  gave  up  the  chase,  and  the  other 
only  followed  to  assure  him  that  if  he  would 
come  back  they  would  not  hurt  him.  When 
he  came  back  he  found  three  of  them  wash 
ing  the  black  off  their  faces,  arid  the  fourth 
engaged  in  plundering  his  knapsack.  Tak 
ing  hold  of  one  of  the  guns  that  was  lying 
near,  he  leveled  it  at  the  man,  and  told  him 
he  would  shoot  him  if  he  did  not  return  every 
thing  he  had  taken  out.  The  man  thus 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY.      113 

threatened,  looked  to  his  comrades,  but  find 
ing  that  they  showed  no  disposition  to  inter 
fere,  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  all.  Tho 
mas  asked  no  explanation  of  the  cause  which 
had  led  to  the  attempt  to  kill  him,  and  they 
never  said  anything  to  him  about  it.  On  ex 
amining,  he  found  that  both  of  the  bullets 
which  were  first  fired  at  him,  had  cut  the  ba,rk 
of  the  tree  behind  which  he  was,  and  this  had 
so  changed  their  course  that  they  had  missed 
him.  After  this  he  travelled  in  the  company 
of  Girty  and  Conoly,  at  different  times,  more 
than  twTo  hundred  miles,  and  on  other  occa 
sions  he  was  shot  at  with  the  rifle  seven  times  ;' 
both  the  sleeves  of  his  coat  were  cut  with  the 
bullets,  but  he  never  was  wounded.  The  cir 
cumstances  attending  any  of  these  attempts 
to  kill  him  are  not  now  remembered.  He 
never  felt  himself  safe,  and  said  that  he 
never  slept  so  sound  that  he  did  not  hear 
every  movement  that  was  made. 

Before  Thomas  could  get  his  preparations 

made  for  starting  to  Canada,  the  season  wras 

so  far  advanced  as  to  render  it  certain  that 

he  could  not  reach  Detroit  before  winter,  and 

10* 


11-1   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

lie  was  compelled  to  put  off  commencing  his 
journey  till  the  spring  was  somewhat  ad 
vanced.  When  he  set  oft'  he  did  not  know 
how  long  it  would  take  him  to  pass  through 
the  wilderness  to  the  settlements  in  Canada, 
where  his  sister  was ;  but  from  his  past  ex 
perience  he  was  fully  aware  that  perils  at 
tended  him  at  every  step.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  learn  any  of  the  incidents  of  this  tour, 
previous  to  the  time  when  he  reached  Canada, 
except  one. 

It  was  judged  best  that  this  journey  should 
be  made  on  horseback.  On  the  route  which 
he  determined  to  take,  which  led  down  New 
River,  there  lived  a  man  whose  name  was 
Hays,  that  bore  the  reputation  of  being  a 
horse-thief.  Mr.  Evans  did  not  know  exactly 
where  this  man  resided,  though  he  had  an 
impression  that  after  having  passed  a  given 
locality,  he  would  be  out  of  danger  from  him. 
Late  in  the  evening  of  the  day  during  which 
he  had  supposed  he  was  on  the  dangerous 
ground,  and  after  he  thought  he  had  passed 
Hays's  dwelling  ten  miles  or  more,  he  came 
to  a  pretty,  good-looking  cabin,  and  asked  the 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB^S  VALLEY.   115 

man  of  the  house  whom  he  found  sitting  at 
the  door,  whether  he  could  stay  there  all 
night,  and  what  he  would  take  to  insure  the 
safe-keeping  of  his  horse  till  morning.  The 
reply  wTas,  "  You  can  stay,  and  I  will  insure 
the  safety  of  your  horse  for  a  dollar."  Evans 
agreed  to  give  this.  After  his  horse  had  been 
disposed  of,  and  he  had  been  in  the  house 
some  time,  his  host  inquired  what  had  made 
him  so  anxious  about  his  horse,  and  willing 
to  give  such  an  extravagant  price  for  its  safe 
keeping.  Thomas  replied  by  telling  him  on 
what  errand  be  had  started,  and  the  import 
ance  of  his  horse  to  him  in  the  journey  that 
was  before  him,  and  that  he  had  been  told 
that  there  was  a  man  named  Hays  who  lived 
on  that  road  somewhere,  who  bore  the  repu 
tation  of  being  a  horse-thief;  that  he  supposed 
he  had  passed  his  house  about  ten  miles,  but 
that  he  did  not  yet  feel  entirely  safe.  To 
his  great  surprise  the  answer  was,  "  My  name 
is  Hays,  and  there  is  no  other  man  of  the 
name  living  in  this  part  of  the  country.  My 
enemies  tell  lies  upon  me,  and  I  do  not  blame 
you  for  your  caution."  The  horse  was  safe 


116      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.1 

the  next  morning.  Hays  refused  the  dollar, 
and  on  parting  expressed  the  warmest  interest 
and  most  earnest  wishes  for  the  success  of 
Thomas  in  the  long  and  dangerous  journey 
he  had  before  him. 

It  was  late  in  the  month  of  August,  when 
Thomas  rode  to  the  gate  of  a  yard  which  en 
closed  a  house  that  indicated  wealth  and  taste 
in  its  possessor.  Betsy  Dolson  was  standing 
in  her  father's  door,  when  she  observed  a 
stranger  dismount  from  a  jaded  horse,  and 
take  the  path  that  led  to  the  house.  He  was 
then  at  the  distance  of  about  one  hundred 
yards.  After  looking  at  him  for  a  few  mo 
ments,  she  said  to  a  young  woman,  who  was 
engaged  in  a  part  of  the  room  from  which 
she  could  not  see  the  path,  "  Martha,  that  is 
your  brother  who  is  coming  up  the  path.'* 
"0  no,"  replied  Martha,  "my  brother  is 
many  hundred  miles  off."  When  he  had  come 
within  about  twenty-five  steps  of  the  door, 
Betsy  turned  awray  from  it,  and  said,  "  That 
is  your  brother,  for  he  walks  like  you,  and 
looks  like  you."  Soon  the  brother  and  sister 
were  locked  in  each  other's  arms.  She  only 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.      117 

said,  "Are  they  all  alive?"  and  heard  him 
say  "  Yes,"  when  the  feelings  that  had  been 
pent  up  for  more  than  two  years,  found  vent 
in  a  gush  of  tears.  My  reader  may  imagine 
what  were  the  feelings  of  that  brother  and 
sister,  but  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  them. 
Many  subjects  of  deep  interest  were  talked 
over  by  them  before  they  laid  their  heads  on 
their  pillows  that  night,  for  each  had  much 
to  communicate.  He  had  the  tale  of  his  ad 
ventures  in  his  efforts  to  find  her,  and  some 
thing  of  family  matters,  and  more  of  neigh 
bourhood  affairs  to  tell;  and  she  had  the  his 
tory  of  her  captivity,  with  all  its  incidents. 
For  the  first  time  he  learned  what  had  be 
come  of  the  members  of  that  family  in  whose 
fate  his  sister  had  been  so  involved,  and  was 
not  a  little  surprised  when  he  found  that 
James  and  Mary  Moore  were  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  in  which  he  had  found  his  sister. 
Sweet  were  the  slumbers  of  Thomas  that 
night,  and  the  dreams  of  Martha  were  about 
her  distant  home,  to  which  she  now  hoped  to 
be  restoied  speedily. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THOMAS  EVANS  had  now  accomplished  part 
of  what  he  had  undertaken.  He  had  found 
his  sister,  but  the  hazard  and  difficulty  of 
taking  her  home  were  yet  to  be  encountered. 
As  soon  as  he  saw  Mary  Moore,  she  expressed 
an  earnest  desire  to  go  with  them,  and  al 
though  restoring  her  to  her  friends  had  not 
formed  a  part  of  his  plan,  his  generous  heart 
disdained  the  thought  of  leaving  her  in  her 
cruel  bondage.  James  Moore  was  rather 
more  than  willing  to  remain  where  he  was. 
He  was  now  in  his  seventeenth  year,  an  ac 
tive,  hardy  young  man  ;  and  when  the  ques 
tion  was  presented  to  him  whether  he  would 
let  his  sister  set  off  for  Virginia  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Mr.  Evans  alone,  he  felt  that  it 
would  be  base  in  him  not  to  go  with  her.  He 
would  have  preferred  that  she  should  remain 
where  she  was,  and  after  a  year  or  two  come 
and  live  with  him  in  the  home  which  he 
(118) 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.      119 

thought  he  would,  by  that  time,  be  able  to 
offer  her.  But  when  he  saw  that  her  whole 
soul  was  centered  on  the  prospect  of  return 
ing  to  her  kindred,  he  concluded  to  be  one 
of  the  party,  and,  after  seeing  his  relations, 
to  return  to  Canada. 

To  get  all  things  prepared  for  this  journey 
was  not  the  work  of  a  day.  It  was  about 
the  middle  of  October  that  the  preparations 
were  completed,  and  the  four  set  out,  not 
knowing  what  things  might  befall  them  by 
the  way.  A  company  of  traders  that  were 
starting  on  a  trip  amongst  the  Indians,  and  who 
were  going  in  boats  to  the  opposite  side  of 
Lake  Erie,  took  two  of  them,  and  the  luggage 
of  all,  to  the  Moravian  towns,  where  they 
were  joined  by  the  other  two  who  had  tra 
velled  round  the  end  of  the  lake  with  the 
three  horses  they  had  for  the  trip.  And 
here  the  providence  of  God  found  protectors 
for  them  through  a  dangerous  part  of  their 
journey.  The  Indians  of  these  towns  had 
been  instructed  by  the  Moravian  missionaries  ; 
many  of  them  were  pious,  all  of  them  op 
posed  to  war,  and  desirous  to  pursue  their 


120      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.1 

own  avocations,  and  live  peaceably  with  all 
men.  The  massacre  of  the  inhabitants  of 
these  villages,  at  a  time  subsequent  to  the 
period  of  this  narrative,  forms  one  of  the 
dark  chapters  in  the  bloody  annals  of  man's 
cruelty  and  wickedness.  It  also  shows  the 
influence  of  the  principles  of  Christianity,  in 
the  manner  in  which  these  deeply  injured 
sons  of  the  forest,  who  had  been  brought  un 
der  its  influence,  met  their  fate  at  the  hands 
of  their  blood-thirsty  murderers. 

A  party  of  these  Indians  was  almost  ready 
to  start  on  their  fall  hunt,  and  the  route 
which  they  designed  to  take  was  that  which 
Thomas  Evans  and  his  party  were  to  travel. 
They  were  anxious  to  travel  with  them  for 
two  reasons.  A  few  days  before  they  started 
from  Canada,  they  learned  that  a  son  of 
Simon  Girty  had  formed  a  plan  to  waylay 
them  in  the  wilderness,  kill  Thomas  and 
James,  and  bring  the  two  girls  back  to  cap 
tivity,  and  had  hired  some  Indians  to  aid  him 
in  his  villany.  But  while  he  was  waiting 
for  them  to  start,  he  had  a  violent  quarrel 
with  his  father,  and  was  so  much  exasperated 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      121 

at  the  result,  that  he  committed  suicide. 
And  though  he  was  dead,  they  did  not  know 
but  that  some  other  person,  equally  vile,  might 
attempt  to  execute  his  plan,  against  which 
the  presence  of  these  Moravian  Indians  would 
be  an  effectual  protection.  And  moreover, 
the  route  to  the  hunting-grounds  would  cross 
tracts  of  country  frequented  by  some  of  the 
most  hostile  of  the  Indians,  who  would  be 
much  less  likely  to  disturb  Thomas  and  his 
company,  if  found  with  other  Indians,  than  if 
found  alone.  They,  therefore,  waited  a  few 
days  for  them,  and  afterwards  found  they  had 
acted  wisely.  One  evening  their  encampment 
for  the  night  was  quite  near  a  party  of  In 
dian  hunters,  and  the  next  morning  five  of 
the  warriors  came  to  them  painted  as  if  for 
war.  They  had  a  long  conference  with  the 
Moravians,  and  at  last  went  away  without 
doing  any  violence ;  for  which  result  this  de 
fenceless  party  were  indebted  to  the  friend 
ship  of  those  in  whose  company  they  were. 

After  leaving   them,  they  had  about  five 
days'  travel  before  they  would  reach  the  first 
settlements  in  Pennsylvania  ;  and  during  four 
11 


122   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

of  these  days  they  knew  they  were  beset  with 
perils.  On  the  forenoon  of  the  last  day  but 
one  before  they  got  out  of  the  wilderness, 
they  came  to  the  place  where  a  party  of  sava 
ges  had  encamped  the  night  before,  and  had 
left  the  spot  so  late  in  the  morning  that  their 
fire  was  still  burning.  This  excited  their  ap 
prehension  of  danger  very  much.  They 
travelled  that  day,  keeping  a  careful  look  out, 
and  lay  down  at  night  not  without  fear  that 
they  would  be  disturbed  before  morning. 
Thomas  had  given  them  particular  instruc 
tions  about  the  streams  and  other  landmarks 
that  would  guide  them  in  case  anything  should 
separate  them  from  him,  and  a  plan  for  act 
ing  in  case  of  an  attack  by  day  or  by  night 
was  arranged.  Thomas  would  bear  the  brunt ; 
and  the  others  were  to  escape,  and  be  careful 
to  keep  together ;  and  whatever  might  befall 
him,  they  could  reach  the  settlements  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fort  Pitt.  On  the  night 
of  this  anxious  day,  they  put  out  their  fire 
soon  after  dark,  and  lay  down,  wrapped  in 
their  blankets.  Before  any  one  of  the  party 
had  fallen  asleep,  they  heard  something  step- 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.  123 

ping  along  the  track  en  which  they  had 
travelled.  It  sounded  to  them  exactly  like 
the  footsteps  of  a  man  walking  carefully  in 
the  dark.  A  hasty  whisper  passed  around 
the  anxious  group.  Nearer  and  nearer  the 
step  approached,  and  then  suddenly  stopped. 
Just  as  they  were  on  the  point  of  springing 
up,  the  snort  of  a  deer  was  heard,  and  the 
innocent  cause  of  their  alarm  bounded  off 
amongst  the  bushes.  The  next  day  passed 
without  any  occurrence  to  excite  their  appre 
hensions,  and  at  its  close  they  felt  themselves 
out  of  danger,  as  before  the  evening  of  the 
following  day  they  would  be  within  the  fron 
tier  settlements  of  Pennsylvania.  When 
they  had  arranged  everything  for  the  night, 
the  conversation  became  more  animated  than 
on  any  evening  since  they  had  started  from 
Canada.  They  talked  cheerfully  of  past 
dangers,  and  even  ventured  to  chat  about  the 
bright  future  that  was  now  before  them.  In 
after  days,  speaking  of  that  evening,  Thomas 
used  to  tell,  that  as  they  were  in  the  midst  of 
their  cheerful  conversation,  Mary  remarked : 
u  Well,  Thomas,  I  never  can  forget  your 


124     THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

kindness  to  me."  Without  noticing  her 
countenance  as  she  spoke,  he  replied  ;  "  Oh, 
when  you  get  home  you  will  be  amongst  your 
rich  kindred,  and  will  soon  forget  me."  As 
he  finished  the  sentence  he  looked  at  her, 
and  to  his  surprise  saw  her  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  as  she  said  with  deep  earnestness, 
"No,  Thomas,  whatever  my  future  lot  may 
be,  I  never  can  forget  you ;  and  if  ever  I 
have  a  house  of  my  own,  the  time  never  can 
came  when  the  door  will  not  be  open  to  you." 
Many  years  after  both  Thomas  and  Mary 
were  dead,  his  son,  in  relating  this  little  in 
cident  to  her  son,  said  that  the  last  time  he 
ever  heard  his  father  mention  it,  he  followed 
it  with  the  remark,  u  There  is  no  person  on 
earth  I  would  be  so  much  rejoiced  to  see  as 
Mary  Moore." 

It  was  near  the  middle  of  November  when 
the  little  party  arrived  at  the  residence  of 
Home  of  the  relatives  of  Thomas  and  Martha. 
Amongst  them  Thomas  designed  to  remain  a 
short  time  to  rest,  and  prepare  for  the  re 
maining  part  of  their  journey.  The  hand  of 
the  Lord  had  been  upon  them  for  good,  and 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      125 

he  had  delivered  them  from  those  that  lay  in 
wait  by  the  way.  The  danger  was  now  past, 
and  henceforth  their  journey  would  not  be  in 
pathless  forests  amongst  enemies,  but  in  the 
midst  of  those  who,  from  sympathy  in  their 
sufferings,  would  extend  to  them  all  needed 
aid  in  the  several  hundred  miles  that  must 
yet  be  passed  over,  before  Martha  would  see 
her  home,  and  James  and  Mary  would  be 
amongst  their  kindred.  The  plan  was  to  re 
main  but  a  short  time,  and  cross  the  Alle 
gheny  mountains  before  the  winter  set  in. 
But  in  a  few  days  after  they  had  arrived  at 
their  place  of  temporary  rest,  Thomas  dislo 
cated  his  shoulder,  and  in  an  unskilful  at 
tempt  to  set  it,  his  arm  was  broken  above  the 
elbow  ;  and  long  before  he  was  able  to  travel 
winter  was  upon  them.  At  that  time  the 
settlements  were  so  sparse  on  the  route  from 
Fort  Pitt  (now  Pittsburgh)  to  Winchester,  and 
the  road  so  little  travelled,  that  it  was  deemed 
unsafe  to  attempt  the  journey  with  the  girls 
in  company  before  spring ;  and  when  the 
route  was  deemed  safe  in  the  spring,  for 
some  cause  not  now  known,  it  was  thought 
11* 


126      THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY. 

best  that  Martha  should  remain  where  she 
was,  while  Thomas  should  go  on  with  James 
and  Mary,  and  return,  for  his  sister.  They 
followed  Braddock's  military  road  to  Win 
chester  ;  thence  took  the  route  usually  tra 
velled  up  the  valley  to  Augusta,  where  the 
Moores  found  the  first  of  their  kindred. 

But  two  incidents  in  this  last  part  of  their 
journey  were  ever  mentioned  by  them.  While 
waiting  for  breakfast  one  morning,  Mary  took 
out  the  Testament  which  she  had  carried 
through  all  the  dangers  and  sufferings  of  her 
captivity,  and  spent  the  time  in  reading  it. 
When  summoned  to  breakfast  she  laid  it 
down,  and  when  she  started  forgot  it.  It 
was  not  known  that  she  had  left  it,  until  after 
they  had  passed  over  several  miles,  and  she 
then  proposed  to  return  for  it,  but  there  was 
not  time  to  do  this,  and  get  to  the  only  house 
where  they  could  spend  the  night.  To  lose 
it  thus,  was  no  small  trial  to  her.  It  was  the 
only  thing  she  had  taken  with  her  from  the 
ruins  of  her  home,  and  it  had  been  her  in 
structor  and  comforter  in  the  dark  days  of 
sorrow  and  suffering.  Doubtless  the  God 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S    VALLEY.       127 

who  had  protected  and  guided  her  in  her 
whole  course,  had  some  end  to  accomplish  by 
this.  The  book  may  have  been  left  in  a 
family  where  there  was  no  part  of  the  word 
of  God,  while  she  was  going  where  she  would 
have  opportunity  to  read  the  sacred  Scrip 
tures.  It  may  have  been  used  to  instruct 
others  who  were  without  an  instructor,  as  it 
had  instructed  her  when  removed  far  from 
all  opportunity  of  attending  on  the  ordinances 
of  God's  house.  After  the  lapse  of  more  than 
sixty  years,  there  is  no  probability  that  it  has 
not  long  since  been  worn  out  arid  destroyed ; 
but  if  it  has  been  preserved,  arid  could  now  be 
identified,  what  an  interesting  relic  would  it 
be  to  the  descendants  of  her  who  prized  it  so 
highly  ! 

The  last  day  of  their  journey  was  a  day 
not  to  be  forgotten  by  them.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  that  day  Thomas  paid  out  the  last 
shilling  he  had.  This  occasioned  him  no  un 
easiness,  as  he  knew  that  a  few  miles  would 
tako  them  to  those  who  had  heard  the  sad 
tale  of  the  breaking  up  of  Captain  Moore's 
family,  and  from  any  of  these  he  felt  sure 


128   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  AEB*S  VALLEY. 

that  lie  and  his  party  would  receive  a  hearty 
welcome.  The  day  was  one  of  alternate  snow 
and  rain.  When  they  approached  a  farm, 
which  Thomas  had  found  by  his  inquiries  was 
occupied  by  a  family  that  had  known  the 
story  of  the  misfortunes  of  those  who  were 
under  his  care,  he  cheered  them  by  telling 
them  of  the  kind  reception  they  would  meet, 
and  that  as  it  was  such  unfavourable  weather, 
they  would  spend  the  rest  of  the  day  and  the 
night  there.  But  when  they  presented  them 
selves,  their  clothes  wet  through  and  their 
limbs  chilled  with  the  cold,  the  reception  they 
met  was  more  chilling  than  the  storm  with 
out.  No  invitation  was  given  them  to  re 
main,  no  interest  was  manifested  at  seeing 
the  captive  children  brought  back.  Thomas 
was  indignant  at  this  conduct,  and,  therefore, 
scorned  to  ask  as  a  favour  that  which  he 
thought  they  should  consider  a  privilege  to 
give.  After  remaining  a  short  time  they 
started  out  into  the  storm,  and  after  this  dis 
appointment  they  would  not  run  the  risk  of 
such  another  reception.  They  knew  that  be 
fore  bed-time  they  could  get  to  a  place  where 


THE    CAPTIVES  .OF    ABB'S   VALLEY.      129 

they  would  be  received  very  differently.  The 
storm  they  did  not  fear.  They  had  often  en 
countered  far  worse  when  they  had  no  such 
hope  as  that  which  now  cheered  them.  Some 
time  after  dark  they  got  to  the  residence  of 
William  McPheeters,  about  eight  miles  from 
Staunton.  Mrs.  McPheeters  was  the  sister 
of  Captain  Moore,  and  here  James  and  Mary 
met  their  grandfather  and  grandmother.  The 
arrival  of  the  guests  of  that  night  was  unex 
pected  to  the  family.  But  here  Thomas  be 
gan  to  receive  his  reward  for  the  generous 
kindness  he  had  shown  to  the  orphans.  That 
reward  was  in  the  melting  of  hearts  which  he 
witnessed  in  the  meeting  of  that  evening. 
The  aged  grand-parents  were  deeply  affected, 
and  every  heart  sympathized  with  them. 
"  There  were  tears,  and  there  were  smiles, 
there  was  joy  and  there  was  sorrow."  Those 
who  had  wept  over  the  destruction  of  the 
family,  rejoiced  and  wept  to  see  the  remnant 
brought  back.  This  night  ended  the  wander 
ings  of  James  and  Mary  ;  not  quite  three 
years  after  Mary's  had  commenced,  and  five 


ISO     THE    CAPTIVES    OF    ABB'S   VALLEY. 

months  short  of  six  years  after  James  had 
been  taken  prisoner. 

After  resting  a  day  or  two,  Thomas  went 
on  to  Rockbridge  county,  and  received  from 
the  administrator  of  Captain  Moore's  estate, 
the  full  amount  of  all  he  had  expended  ir 
defraying  the  expenses  of  James  and  Mary 
on  their  journey,  but  entirely  refused  any 
additional  compensation.  Some  time  in  the 
summer  he  returned  for  his  sister,  whom,  as 
has  been  stated,  he  left  in  Pennsylvania. 
Then  the  object  to  which  he  had  devoted 
himself  for  nearly  three  years,  and  in  which 
he  had  endured  so  many  hardships,  and  had 
been  exposed  to  so  many  dangers,  was  ac 
complished.  He  saw  his  sister  the  happy 
member  of  a  family  made  happy  by  her  re 
turn.  How  great  his  pleasure  must  have 
been !  Generous,  noble  young  man  !  You 
have  had  your  reward  in  part.  All  that  you 
asked,  was  the  happiness  of  seeing  your  be 
loved  sister  under  the  paternal  roof  again, 
and  this  you  did  see.  But  the  orphan's  God 
gave  you  more  than  this ;  and  in  the  cher 
ished  recollections  of  those  who  trace  their 


THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      181 

lineage  to  the  captives  of  Abb's  Valley,  jour 
name  lives,  and  will  live,  honoured  and  re 
vered,  for  your  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the 
welfare  of  others.  And  the  thousands  who 
may  read  this  narrative,  will  remember  your 
unostentatious  heroism  with  admiration. 


CHAPTER   X. 

NOTHING  of  romantic  character  remains  m 
the  history  of  those  who  went  into  captivity 
from  Abb's  Valley.  And  yet  there  is  no 
doubt  that  each  reader  who  has  followed  them 
to  their  return,  would  feel  disappointed  if  the 
narrative  should  be  closed  there.  "  What  be 
came  of  them  ?  I  should  like  to  know  some 
thing  of  their  future  history/'  would  be  the 
question  and  the  feeling  of  every  mind.  As 
far  as  the  materials  for  answering  the  ques 
tion  are  at  hand,  they  will  be  used. 

Thomas  Evans  and  Ann  Crow  were  mar 
ried  in  the  autumn  after  his  sister  arrived  at 
home.  The  next  spring  he  removed  to  Ken 
tucky,  and  lived  in  Shelby  county,  until  some 
time  in  the  year  1809.  He  then  removed  to 
Indiana,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Washing 
ton  county,  and  near  to  where  Salem,  the 
county  seat,  now  stands.  It  was  then  the 
frontier,  and  was  often  exposed  to  danger 
(132) 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   133 

from  the  savages.  More  than  once  when 
past  the  prime  of  life,  he  was  a  volunteer  in 
detachments  of  troops  that  were  sent  against 
the  Indians,  and  sometimes  was  one  of  the 
spies  that  were  sent  out  to  watch  their  move* 
ments  when  danger  was  apprehended.  In 
these  expeditions  his  knowledge  of  Indian 
habits  was  much  relied  on  ;  and  though  an 
old  man,  he  was  considered  a  desirable  com 
panion  in  these  seasons  of  danger.  He  be 
came  the  father  of  six  sons  and  six  daugh 
ters,  some  of  whom  reside  now  (1854)  on 
and  near  the  farm  owned  by  their  father* 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  died  in  September,  1829. 

Martha  Evans  married  Mr.  Hummer.  Two 
of  her  sons,  William  and  Michael,  entered  the 
ministry  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She 
spent  the  last  years  of  her  life  in  Salem,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
there.  She  lived  beloved  and  respected  by 
all  who  knew  her.  Her  death  happened  in 
the  winter  of  1827. 

James  Moore  expressed  a  desire  and  de 
sign  to  return  to  Canada,  for  some  time  after 
12 


134      THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

he  had  been  amongst  his  friends  in  Virginia, 
but  at  last  abandoned  the  plan.  Early  in  life 
he  married  a  Miss  Taylor,  of  Rockbridge 
county,  settled  on  the  farm  which  his  father 
had  occupied  in  Abb's  Valley,  and  became 
the  father  of  a  numerous  family,  who,  with 
few  exceptions,  reside  in  the  same  section  of 
country.  At  an  early  period  after  he  had 
gone  to  reside  in  the  valley,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  con 
tinued  in  the  communion  of  that  church  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  autumn  of 
1851.  He  was  spared  to  see  his  descendants 
of  the  third  generation. 

Joseph  Moore,  who  twice  narrowly  escaped 
captivity,  lived  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  a 
pious  man,  blessed  with  a  pious  family,  and 
died  in  the  winter  of  1848.  He  was  an  ac 
tive,  useful  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

Mary  Moore  lived  with  her  maternal  grand 
mother  for  two  or  three  years  after  her  re 
turn  to  Rockbridge,  and  afterward  had  her 
home  in  the  family  of  Joseph  Walker,  who 
was  married  to  her  father's  sister.  His  fam 
ily  belonged  to  the  Falling  Spring  congrega- 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.  135 

tion,  the  pastor  of  which,  at  that  time  was 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Houston.  In  a  letter  writ 
ten  in  1836,  he  says,  "  When  I  first  became 
acquainted  with  your  mother,  she  was  a  mild, 
sweet  little  girl,  living  in  her  uncle's  family. 
When  I  conversed  with  her  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  she  gave  evidence  of  having  obtained 
a' saving  knowledge  of  the  truth.  In  conse 
quence  of  this,  I  advised  her  to  be  baptized, 
and  become  a  member  of  the  church  in  full 
communion.  Not  long  after,  when  her  uncle 
presented  a  child  for  baptism,  she,  of  her  own 
accord,  stepped  up  beside  her  aunt,  and  thus 
by  her  own  act  was  consecrated  to  God,  and 
shortly  after  was  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table. 
She  continued  to  reside  in  her  uncle's  family 
more  as  a  daughter  than  as  a  niece,  was  very 
affectionate  to  all,  and  her  affection  was  re 
ciprocated  by  young  and  old.  Her  worth 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  knew 
her." 

In  October  1798,  Mary  Moore  was  married 
to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Brown,  pastor  of  New 
Providence  church.  In  the  active  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  this  station,  she  passed  many 


136      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

happy,  busy  years.  There  are  two  records 
of  her  worth.  One  of  these  is  in  the  memo 
ries  of  those  who  were  her  neighbours,  and 
the  people  of  her  husband's  pastoral  charge. 
With  them  her  memory  is  fondly  cherished. 
Few  of  those  who  were  her  equals  in  age  now 
remain.  Like  her,  they  have  finished  their 
work  on  earth.  But  while  those  survive  who 
grew  up  after  her  removal  to  that  congrega 
tion,  and  while  their  children  continue  to 
worship  in  the  church  in  which  her  husband 
preached,  those  who  look  on  the  marble  that 
marks  her  grave,  will  remember  her  with  ten 
derness  and  respect.  She  lived  the  respected 
wife  of  a  beloved  pastor ;  a  man  who  was  re 
garded  by  those  who  best  knew  him,  as  the 
equal  of  the  most  distinguished  ministers  of 
his  day,  in  the  Synod  of  Virginia.  And  no 
one  ever  thought  that  he  was  wedded  to  one 
who  was  his  inferior.  In  her  sphere,  she 
lived  as  much  respected  as  he  did  in  his. 

The  other  record  of  her  worth  is  the  fam 
ily  that  she  brought  up.  She  was  the  mother 
of  eleven  children.  Of  these  one  son  died 
in  infancy,  and  one  daughter  in  early  youth. 


THE    CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      137 

Seven  sons  and  two  daughters  lived  to  mature 
life. 

In  no  part  of  her  life  did  her  character 
shine  more  brightly,  than  when  she  was  left 
a  widow  with  this  family  of  ten  children,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  less  than  two  years 
old.  This  event  occurred  on  the  13th  of  Oc 
tober,  1818.  The  precious  Sabbath  was  a 
communion  Sabbath  in  the  New  Providence 
church.  During  all  the  services  of  this  sa 
cramental  meeting,  Mr.  Brown  seemed  more 
than  usually  animated,  and  preached  with 
more  freedom  and  power  than  common.  It 
is  a  singular  coincidence  that  on  Saturday 
his  forenoon  discourse  was  a  lecture  on  the 
last  chapter  of  the  book  of  Revelation,  which 
^as  the  last  of  a  course  of  lectures  that  had 
commenced  with  Genesis.  From  various 
causes  he  had  been  prevented  for  several  Sab 
baths  from  delivering  this  lecture.  His  oldest 
son  who  heard  it,  has  a  distinct  recollection 
of  the  freedom,  and  solemnity,  and  power  of 
that  discourse,  and  of  the  deep  feeling  which 
he  manifested  when  speaking  of  the  solemn 
account  which  he  must  render  at  God's  bar 
12* 


138   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

for  what  he  had  spoken  in  explaining  and  en 
forcing  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  his  solemn 
appeal  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  that  he  had 
honestly  endeavoured  to  declare  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  In  administering  the  Lord's 
supper  on  Sabbath,  he  was  so  carried  away 
by  his  feelings  in  his  address  to  the  commu 
nicants  at  the  last  table,  that  he  forgot  to 
distribute  the  cup,  and  was  about  to  close  the 
service  when  one  of  the  elders  reminded  him 
of  the  omission.  On  Sabbath  afternoon,  and 
on  Monday,  he  delivered  two  discourses  which 
were  regarded  as  sermons  of  unusual  ability, 
and  were  for  a  long  time  spoken  of  by  the 
congregation,  as  amongst  the  most  striking 
they  had  ever  heard  from  him.  On  Tuesday  he 
ate  a  hearty  dinner,  and  soon  after  engaged 
in  some  active  exercise.  This  brought  on  an 
attack  of  pain  in  the  heart,  and  in  less  than 
half  an  hour  he  ceased  to  breathe. 

In  the  Evangelical  Magazine  for  Decem 
ber,  1818,  in  an  article  headed,  "An  Excur 
sion  to  the  Country,"  written  by  the  late 
John  H.  Rice,  D.D.,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Mr.  Brown,  is  found  a  notice  of  this  sad 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY.   139 

event.  "  The  record  of  this  clay  (14th  of  Oc 
tober),  presents  something  like  a  map  of  hu 
man  life.  In  the  morning  we  were  gay  and 
cheerful,  amusing  ourselves  with  remarks  on 
the  comparative  genius  and  habits  of  our 
countrymen,  and  a  thousand  things  just  as 
the  thoughts  of  them  occurred,  anticipating 
a  joyful  meeting  in  the  evening  with  some 
well  tried,  faithful  and  beloved  friends ;  when 
suddenly,  as  the  flash  of  lightning  breaks  from 
the  cloud,  we  were  informed  of  the  death  of 
one  of  the  choicest  of  those  friends,  and  one 
of  the  most  valuable  of  men,  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Brown.  The  road  which  we  should  travel 
led  by  the  house  in  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  preach,  and  on  inquiring  for  it,  we  were 
asked  if  we  were  going  to  the  funeral !  Thus 
in  a  moment  was  hope  turned  into  deep  de 
spondency,  and  gladness  of  heart  exchanged 
for  the  bitterness  of  sorrow.  We  journeyed 
on  in  mournful  silence,  interrupted  by  occa 
sional  remarks,  which  showed  our  unwilling 
ness  to  believe  the  truth  of  what  had  been  an 
nounced,  and  how  reluctantly  hope  takes  her 
flight  from  the  human  bosom.  It  might  have 


140      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLET. 

been  a  fainting  fit,  an  apoplectic  stroke  mis 
taken  for  the  invasion  of  death,  and  still  he 
might  be  alive.  The  roads  trampled  by  mul 
titudes  of  horses,  all  directed  to  the  dwelling 
of  our  friend,  dissipated  the  illusion,  and 
convinced  us  of  the  sad  reality.  Still,  how 
ever,  when  we  arrived  at  the  church,  and  saw 
the  people  assembling,  and  the  pile  of  red 
clay  (the  sure  indication  of  a  newly  opened 
grave)  in  the  church-yard,  it  seemed  that  we 
were  for  the  first  time  assured  that  Samuel 
Brown  was  dead.  Only  a  few  of  the  people 
had  come  together  on  our  arrival.  Some  in 
small  groups  were  conversing  in  a  low  tone 
of  voice,  interrupted  by  frequent  and  bitter 
sighs,  and  showing  in  strong  terms  how  deeply 
they  felt  their  loss.  Others,  whose  emotions 
were  too  powerful  for  conversation,  stood 
apart,  and  leaning  on  the  tombstones,  looked 
like  pictures  of  woe. 

"  Presently  the  sound  of  the  multitude  was 
heard.  They  came  on  in  great  crowds.  The 
elders  of  the  church  assisted  in  committing 
the  body  to  the  grave,  after  which  a  solemn 
silence,  interrupted  only  by  smothered  sobs, 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   141 

ensued  for  several  minutes.  The  widow,  sur 
rounded  by  her  children,  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  grave,  exhibiting  signs  of  unutterable 
anguish,  yet  seeming  to  say,  "It  is  the  Lord, 
let  him  do  as  seemeth  him  good."  After 
a  little  while,  on  a  signal  being  given,  some 
young  men  began  to  fill  the  grave.  The  first 
clods  that  fell  on  the  coffin  gave  forth  the 
most  mournful  sound  that  I  ever  heard.  At 
that  moment  the  chorister  of  the  congregation 
was  asked  to  sing  a  specified  hymn,  to  a  tune 
which  was  known  to  be  a  favourite  of  the  de 
ceased  minister.  His  voice  faltered  so  that 
it  required  several  efforts  to  raise  the  tune  ; 
the  whole  congregation  attempted  to  join 
him,  but  at  first  the  sound  was  rather  a  scream 
of  anguish  than  music.  As  they  advanced, 
however,  the  precious  truths  expressed  in  the 
words  of  the  hymn  seemed  to  enter  their 
souls.  Their  voices  became  more  firm,  and 
while  their  eyes  streamed  with  tears,  their 
countenances  were  radiant  with  Christian 
hope,  and  the  singing  of  the  last  stanza  was 
like  a  shout  of  triumph. 

"  The  words  of  the  hymn  are  well  known 


142     THE    CAPTIVES    OP   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

to  many,  but  we  think  it  riot  amiss  to  record 
them  here. 

'When  I  can  rend  my  title  clear, 

To  mansions  in  the  skies, 
I  bid  farewell  to  every  fear, 
And  wipe  nay  weeping  eyes. 

'Should  earth  against  my  soul  engage, 

And  hellish  darts  be  hurled; 
Then  I  can  smile  at  Satan's  rage, 
And  face  a  frowning  world. 

'Let  cares  like  a  wild  deluge  come, 

And  storms  of  sorrow  fall ; 
May  I  but  safely  reach  my  home, 
My  God,  iny  heaven,  my  all. 

'  There  shall  I  bathe  my  weary  soul 

In  seas  of  heavenly  rest, 
And  not  a  wave  of  trouble  roll 
Across  my  peaceful  breast.' 

"  By  the  time  these  words  were  finished, 
the  grave  was  closed,  and  the  congregation 
in  solemn  silence  retired  to  their  homes. 

"  We  lodged  that  night  with  one  of  the 
members  of  the  church.  The  family  seemed 
bereaved  as  though  the  head  of  the  house 
had  just  been  buried.  Every  allusion  to  the 
event  brought  forth  a  flood  of  tears.  I  could 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   143 

not  help  exclaiming,  '  Behold,  how  they  loved 
hirn!'  And  I  thought  the  lamentation  of 
fathers  and  mothers,  of  young  men  and 
maidens  over  their  departed  pastor,  a  more 
eloquent  and  affecting  eulogium  than  oratory 
with  all  its  pomp  and  pretensions  could  pro 
nounce.  After  this  I  shall  not  attempt  a 
panegyric.  Let  those  who  wish  to  know  the 
character  of  Samuel  Brown,  go  and  see  the 
sod  that  covers  his  body,  wet  with  the  tears 
of  his  congregation.'* 

The  death  of  the  father  of  the  family  de 
volved  on  the  mother  a  heavy  additional 
amount  of  care  and  responsibility,  but  she 
met  it  in  the  strength  of  God,  and  was  sus 
tained.  A  day  or  two  after  the  sad  event, 
she  remarked  to  an  intimate  friend  who  had 
come  to  sympathize  with  her,  "  When  I  look 
over  my  past  life,  and  remember  through 
what  God  has  brought  me,  I  do  feel  that  it 
would  be  unspeakably  sinful  iu  me  to  indulge 
for  one  moment  any  fear  that  he  will  not  take 
care  of  me  and  mine.  I  do  cast  myself  and 
my  children  on  his  promises.  I  do  not  doubt 
their  fulfilment,  and  in  this  I  have  strength 


144     THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

and  comfort."  With  these  views  she  met  her 
increased  responsibilities,  not  bowed  down  in 
despondency,  but  with  a  spirit  of  unrepining 
submission,  and  girded  herself  to  the  task 
laid  upon  her,  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the 
power  of  his  might.  In  her  case  was  seen 
the  fulfilment  of  the  passage  in  God's  word, 
which  was  the  text  from  which  her  husband 
had  preached  his  last  sermon,  "  Even  the 
youths  shall  faint  and  be  weary,  and  the 
young  men  shall  utterly  fall.  But  they  that 
wait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength  ; 
they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles  ; 
they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary ;  they  shall 
walk  and  not  faint." 

The  religious  instruction  of  the  children 
and  servants  she  had  considered  her  special 
field  of  duty  before  her  partner's  death.  To 
this  she  attended  with  exemplary  fidelity. 
On  the  evening  of  the  Sabbath,  both  the 
children  and  the  servants  were  carefully  in 
structed  in  the  Shorter  Catechism ;  and  on 
that  day  the  servants  were  taught  to  read. 
The  result  was,  that  almost  all  of  them  learned 
to  read  with  facility  in  the  Bible,  and  com- 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.  145 

mitted  the  Catechism  to  memory.  After  her 
death,  the  seed  which  she  had  sown  sprang 
up,  and  four  out  of  six  of  the  grown  servants 
made  a  profession  of  religion.  Her  example 
was  to  her  family  a  steady  light,  holding 
forth  the  word  of  truth.  Of  her  it  may  be 
said  with  perfect  truth,  she  was  "  diligent  in 
business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord." 
There  was  no  other  thing  in  regard  to  which 
she  was  more  careful,  than  the  strict  sanctifi- 
cation  of  the  Sabbath-day.  When  from  any 
cause  the  members  of  the  family  generally 
were  prevented  from  attending  church,  every 
proper  expedient  was  resorted  to,  to  fill  up 
the  day  profitably,  and  prevent  it  from  be 
coming  a  weariness  to  those  of  her  household 
who  were  not  pious.  In  varied  instruction 
the  day  passed  away,  not  unpleasantly  to 
any,  and  profitably  to  all. 

The  tenderness  of  her  feelings,  her  ac 
quaintance  with  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  her 
fervent  and  deep-toned  piety,  made  her  excel 
in  prayer.  Before  the  death  of  her  husband, 
when  he  was  from  home,  she  led  the  devotions 
of  the  family,  and  none  who  heard  her  will 
13 


146   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY. 

ever  forget  the  impressions  produced  under 
her  prayers.  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the 
heart  words  came  with  fluency,  and  in  a  pe 
culiar  manner  she  seemed  to  realize  the  pres 
ence  of  her  covenant  God.  In  humility,  and 
in  that  earnestness  which  could  not  he  con 
tented  with  a  denial,  she  pled  with  the  God 
whom  she  loved  with  a  pure  heart  fervently. 
She  lived  to  see  her  heavenly  Father  gra 
ciously  answering  the  prayers  which  she 
offered  for  the  conversion  of  her  children. 
The  oldest  child  of  the  family  was  received 
into  the  communion  of  the  church,  the  spring 
following  his  father's  death,  and  not  long 
after  the  next  two,  and  soon  after  the  next 
two.  Each  of  the  children  made  a  profession 
of  religion  early  in  life.  The  oldest  was  fur 
ther  advanced  when  this  step  was  taken,  than 
any  of  the  others,  and  he  was  less  than 
twenty  years  of  age  when  he  took  on  himself 
the  vows  of  a  Christian. 

To  manage  the  affairs  of  a  family  as  large 
as  that  of  which  Mrs.  Brown  had  the  charge, 
to  provide  for  them,  and  attend  to  the  educa 
tion  of  her  children,  was  no  light  task.  She 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.  147 

felt  the  burden,  and  was  fully  aware  of  the 
importance  of  the  trust  which,  in  the  provi 
dence  of  God,  had  been  placed  in  her  hands. 
Part  of  a  letter  to  a  brother-in-law,  to  whom 
she  looked  for  advice,  and  on  whose  judgment 
she  relied  very  much,  exhibits  her  anxieties 
and  her  support  at  this  period.  It  bears  date, 
August  10th,  1819. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER, — Although  I  have  been  expect 
ing  a  letter  from  you  for  some  time,  I  have  failed  to 
receive  it-  I  am  often  at  a  loss  for  your  advice,  but 
the  distance  is  such,  and  the  way  of  obtaining  it  by 
letter  so  uncertain,  that  I  am  often  obliged  to  exer 
cise  my  own  judgment.  I  very  much  miss  James 
and  the  girls  who  are  at  school,  but  the  latter  will 
soon  be  at  home,  and  will  be  company  and  a  comfort 
to  me  in  my  bereaved  and  lonely  pilgrimage.  The 
loss  of  one  of  the  best  of  husbands  is  a  trial  that  re 
quires  the  support  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  When 
I  remember,  however,  that  his  warfare  is  over,  that 
he  has  entered  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  God,  and 
that  it  is  to  last  for  ever,  I  am  filled  with  comfort. 
0  for  the  continued  support  of  the  everlasting  gos 
pel  !  *  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him.' 
Dear  brother,  when  difficulties  present  themselves 
like  mountains,  I  find  great  comfort  in  that  text — 
*  Leave  thy  fatherless  children  ;  I  will  presprve  them 


148      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

alive,  and  let  thy  widows  trust  in  me.'  This  is  the 
promise  of  the  Almighty,  and  have  I  not  been  an  oV 
ject  of  his  peculiar  care?  Robbed  of  my  parents 
when  quite  small,  his  providence  has  brought  me 
thus  far,  and  his  mighty  arm  is  able  to  sustain  me 
under  any  trial.  0  for  that  faith  in  constant  exer 
cise,  that  works  by  love,  and  purifies  the  heart/' 

The  God  in  whom  she  expressed  such  con 
fident  trust  gave  her  strength  equal  to  her 
day.     Blessed   with   health,    attending   dili 
gently  and  cheerfully  to  the  interests  com 
mitted  to  her  care,  she  passed  the  years  of 
her  widowhood,  until  it  became  manifest  in 
1823,  that  the  hand  of  serious  disease  was 
on  her.     In  the  meantime,  her  second  daugh 
ter   had   been   married  to   the    Rev.  James 
Morrison,   who   succeeded   her   husband    as 
pastor  of  New  Providence  congregation,  and 
was  one  of  the  great  sources  of  her  comfort 
in  the  last  years  of  her  life.     Her  oldest  son 
having   finished   his    collegiate    course,    had 
been  received  under  the  care  of  Lexington 
Presbytery,  and  was  at  home  aiding  in  the 
care  of  the  family,  and  pursuing  his  studies 
under  the  direction  of  the  late  Rev.  George 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S    VALLEJT.      149 

A.  Baxter,  D.  D.,  at  that  time  president  of 
Washington  College. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1823  that  the 
health  of  Mrs.  Brown  began  to  fail.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year  it  became  manifest  that 
disease  had  fixed  itself  upon  her,  and  the 
winter  passed  in  the  insidious  progress  of  pul 
monary  consumption,  while  every  means  was 
unavailingly  used  to  arrest  it.  To  no  one  did 
it  become  manifest  sooner  than  to  herself, 
that  the  sickness  was  unto  death.  She  ex 
pressed  her  conviction  as  to  the  issue,  long 
before  her  family  and  friends  had  abandoned 
hope  in  her  case ;  but  to  gratify  them,  she 
continued  to  use  means  to  counteract  the 
workings  of  disease,  long  after  she  was  fully 
convinced  that  they  were  entirely  ineffectual. 
In  no  part  of  her  course  did  her  character 
and  piety  shine  more  brightly.  She  was  not 
only  calm,  she  was  cheerful,  and  was  sustained 
to  the  end  by  Him  who  hath  said,  "  I  will 
never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee." 

And  yet  there  were  considerations  arising 
from  the  state  of  her  family  that  w^ere  calcu 
lated  to  put  her  faith  to  a  severe  trial.  Her 


150  THE  CAPTIVES  OP  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

maternal  anxieties  were  particularly  directed 
to  the  youngest  four  of  her  children.  In  the 
latter  part  of  February  she  called  her  oldest 
son  into  her  chamber,  telling  him  that  it  was 
her  wish  to  settle  some  family  matters.  She 
then  said  it  was  useless  for  her  family  to  con 
ceal  from  themselves  that  which  was  perfectly 
manifest  to  her,  that  she  was  steadily  sinking, 
and  could  not  live  much  longer.  She  said  she 
had  no  fear  of  death,  and  her  only  wish  was 
to  have  some  plan  fixed  for  disposing  of  the 
four  younger  children ;  expressing  at  the 
same  time  her  entire  comfort  in  committing 
them  into  the  hands  of  God,  that  they  were 
the  children  of  the  covenant,  and  the  God  of 
their  fathers  would  take  care  of  them.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  days  this  was  arranged 
to  her  entire  satisfaction.  They  were  to  live 
with  their  brother-in-law,  and  into  his  and 
their  sister's  hands  she  solemnly  committed 
them,  and  dismissed  all  worldly  cares  from 
her  mind.  About  the  same  time  she  directed 
that  a  neat  pocket  Bible  should  be  purchased 
for  each  of  her  children,  and  presented  as  the 
legacy  o  f  their  dying  mother.  This  occurred 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.      151 

nearly  two  months  before  her  death,  and  it  is 
not  recollected  by  any  of  her  family  that  she 
spoke  on  any  subject  connected  with  worldly 
matters  after  this. 

There  is  nothing  witnessed  on  earth  which 
has  more  of  the  moral  sublime  in  it,  than  the 
Christian,  in  the  full  exercise  of  his  intellec 
tual  powers,  perfectly  aware  of  what  his  con 
dition  is,  watching  his  own  progress  to  the 
entrance  of  the  dark  valley.  The  testimony 
of  God  and  the  promise  of  Christ  are  his 
only,  but  his  all-sufficient  support — his  ground 
of  hope  and  joy.  Knowing  in  whom  he  has 
believed,  and  that  He  is  able  to  take  care  of 
all  that  has  been  committed  to  him,  that  he 
is  faithful  and  will  do  it,  instead  of  shrinking 
from  the  meeting,  he  cheerfully  holds  out  the 
hand  to  welcome  death,  not  to  him  the  king 
of  terrors,  but  the  messenger  of  his  heavenly 
Father,  sent  to  release  him  from  a  state  of 
warfare  and  sin,  and  introduce  him  to  the 
rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 
To  witness  such  a  scene  is  a  high  privilege, 
and  such  was  witnessed  in  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Brown.  Her  friends  were  allowed  the  privi- 


152      THE    CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

lege  of  being  informed  of  all  the  exercises 
of  her  mind,  as  step  by  step  disease  moved 
her  forward,  till  she  passed  into  the  darkness 
of  the  transit  from  earth  into  the  city,  where 
"  there  is  no  night,  and  they  need  no  candle, 
neither  light  of  the  sun,  for  the  Lord  God 
giveth  them  light." 

In  the  last  weeks  of  her  life,  her  sufferings 
were  not  intensely  severe.  For  only  a  short 
time  was  it  necessary  to  watch  by  her  bed. 
The  18th  of  April,  1824,  was  a  communion 
Sabbath  in  New  Providence.  Until  Friday 
she  had  spoken  with  ease,  and  conversed 
freely  with  all  friends  who  called  to  see  her. 
But  at  that  time  it  became  a  labour  for  her 
to  talk,  and  she  seemed  not  disposed  to  con 
verse  with  any  one.  Her  family  were  aware 
that  this  distinctly  marked  one  stage  in  her 
disease  ;  that  it  would  pass  away  and  be  suc 
ceeded  by  the  power  to  talk  with  ease  and  a 
disposition  to  converse,  and  then  in  a  short 
time,  possibly  in  a  few  hours,  certainly  in  a 
few  days  at  most,  all  suffering  would  end 
with  her  for  ever.  It  was  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  night  of  Tuesday,  the  20th,  that  the 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   153 

difficulty  in  speaking  passed  away,  and  she 
then  knew  the  end  was  near.  The  meeting 
of  Lexington  Presbytery  was  to  take  place 
on  Thursday,  and  it  was  expected  that  her 
oldest  son  would  be  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel  during  that  meeting.  About  this 
event  she  had  felt  much  interest.  It  seemed 
to  be  her  last  wish  concerning  the  things  of 
earth  to  see  him  enter  on  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  On  Wednesday  morning,  soon  after 
breakfast,  she  inquired  of  him  whether  he 
was  preparing  to  start  to  Presbytery,  as  she 
knew  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  set  off 
that  forenoon  to  reach  the  place  in  time.  He 
told  her  he  did  not  wish  to  leave  her,  and 
was  not  going.  She  at  once  expressed  her 
decided  wish  that  he  should  go,  saying  that 
she  might  live  till  his  return,  and  if  she  did 
not,  it  would  be  a  greater  comfort  to  her  to 
know  that  he  was  gone  to  receive  his  licensure, 
than  to  have  him  stay  with  her.  She  then 
directed  that  the  servants  first,  and  then  her 
children,  should  be  called  in,  that  she  might 
take  leave  of  them.  To  each  she  gave  some 
words  of  counsel  and  exhortation,  again  com- 


154   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

mitted  the  four  youngest  to  those  who  had 
undertaken  to  supply  her  place  when  she  was 
gone,  invoked  the  blessing  of  God  on  all,  and 
then  felt  she  had  nothing  more  to  do  but 
to  die. 

Through  this  solemn,  touching  scene,  while 
every  other  cheek  was  wet  with  tears,  she 
alone  was  perfectly  composed.  With  the 
fulness  of  tranquil  Christian  hope  she  felt  it 
her  privilege  to  adopt  the  language  of  the 
apostle,  "  The  time  of  my  departure  is  at 
hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith : 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right 
eous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day." 

On  Friday,  between  three  and  four  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  her  son  was  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  the  church  of  Mossy  Creek,  a  dis 
tance  of  about  forty  miles  from  his  mother, 
and  immediately  set  off  for  home.  He  had 
heard  nothing  from  her  after  leaving  her  on 
Wednesday.  If  she  had  died  any  time  be 
fore  Thursday  noon,  he  knew  she  must  be 
buried  before  his  return.  When  he  came  to 


THE   CAPTIVES    OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.     155 

the  residences  of  the  families  from  whom  he 
could  expect  to  get  any  intelligence  respect 
ing  his  mother,  they  had  gone  to  bed,  and  of 
course  he  could  hear  nothing.    But  there  was 
one  spot  which  he  knew  would  give  him  some 
information   before   he  reached  home.     His 
road  led  him  past  the  church,  and  the  grave 
yard  would  show  whether  it  had  received  an 
other  tenant   since  he  had  passed   it.     His 
approach  to  it  was  at  the  end  opposite  that 
in  which  his  mother's  grave  would  be :  there 
was  no  moonlight,  and  as  he  drew  near  he 
endeavoured  to  strain  his  sight  through  the 
darkness,  and  learn  the  state  of  the  case.    It 
was  not  until  he  rode  up  to  the  enclosure, 
only  a  few  yards  from  his  father's  grave,  that 
he  could  see  plainly  the  ground  had  not  been 
disturbed  there.     It  was  then  certain  that  his 
mother  was  not  dead  on  the  morning  of  that 
day,  and  hope  whispered  he  might  still  find 
her  alive.     He  had  about  three  miles  to  ride, 
and  spurring  on  his  jaded  horse  the  distance 
was  soon  passed  over. 

It  was  a  few  minutes  before  one  o'clock  that 
he  dropped  the  saddle-bags  off  his  arm  in  the 


156      THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

liall,  and  opened  the  door  that  led  into  his 
mother's  room.  He  found  her  unable  tc 
speak,  though  she  had  spoken  quite  intelli 
gibly  less  than  half  an  hour  before.  But  it 
was  noticed  by  those  in  the  room,  that  when 
the  door  was  opened,  she  turned  her  eyes  in 
that  direction,  and  fixing  them  on  him,  fol 
lowed  him  as  he  approached  her  bedside.  lir 
about  two  hours  after  this  she  ceased  to 
breathe,  and  her  ransomed  spirit  passed  into 
that  world, 

"  Where  the  saints  of  all  ages  in  harmony  meet, 
Their  Saviour  and  brethren  transported  to  greet ; 
While  the  anthems  of  rapture  unceasingly  roll, 
And  the  smile  of  the  Lord  is  the  feast  of  the  soul." 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  following  Sabbath, 
her  remains  were  placed  beside  those  of  her 
husband,  and  her  son  went  from  the  grave 
of  his  mother  into  the  pulpit,  which  had  been 
occupied  by  his  father,  and  preached  his  first 
sermon.  Few  men  commence  the  work  of 
the  ministry  in  circumstances  so  solemn,  sc 
deeply  affecting  as  those  in  which  he  was 
placed.  He  has  often  expressed  the  opinion 
that  his  mother's  prayers  placed  him  in  the 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.     157 

pulpit.  Contrary  to  his  father's  plans  for  his 
course  in  life,  and  contrary  to  his  own  plans, 
the  providence  of  God  made  the  path  of  duty 
very  plain,  when  the  time  came  for  him  to 
decide  to  what  his  life  should  he  devoted, 
and  this  decision  accorded  with  the  cherished 
desire  of  his  mother. 

Mary  Moore  was  a  small  woman,  slender, 
and  delicate  in  her  person.  Her  usual 
weight  was  about  one  hundred  pounds.  The 
only  remarkable  feature  in  her  face  was  the 
large,  prominent  eyes,  which  were  a  light 
blue.  Her  forehead  was  broad  and  rather 
square.  No  exposure  could  produce  freckles 
on  her  cheeks,  or  change  her  complexion.  It 
is  said  that  in  her  youth  she  was  thought  to 
be  handsome  ;  but  her  chief  ornament  then, 
and  through  life,  was  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit, 
which,  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is  of  great 
price.  The  period  at  which  she  became  pious 
is  not  known,  but  most  probably  it  was  before 
the  breaking  up  of  her  father's  family ;  and 
if  so,  it  must  have  been  before  she  was  ten 
years  of  age. 
14 


CHAPTER   XL 

IT  is  now  (1854)  more  than  thirty  years 
since  Mary  Moore  closed  her  eventful  life, 
and  left  her  young  family  orphans.  These 
years  have  not  passed  away  without  working 
their  changes.  The  seed  that  was  sown  has 
been  springing  up,  and  bringing  forth  fruit. 
Without  detailing  the  steps  in  the  progress 
of  events,  some  of  the  results  will  be  briefly 
presented. 

Of  the  seven  sons  of  the  little  captive  girl, 
five  have  entered  the  ministry  in  the  Presby 
terian  church,  and  one  has  been  for  several 
years  a  ruling  elder  in  the  congregation  of 
which  his  father  was  the  pastor.  The 
youngest  son  studied  medicine,  and  settled 
at  Russelville,  in  Tennessee,  where  he  re 
sided  until  his  death  in  1851.  He  was  emi 
nent  in  his  profession.  It  was  said  of  him  in 
the  brief  obituary  notice,  "  The  widow,  the 
orphan,  and  the  poor  will  long  remember  him 
(158) 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.      159 

with  gratitude."  He  met  death  sustained  by 
the  same  faith  which  had  cheered  his  mother, 
and  none  who  were  acquainted  with  him  doubt 
that  he  has  gone  to  join  her  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  The  third  daughter  died  in  early 
youth,  after  having  given  satisfactory  evi 
dence  that  she  had  made  her  peace  with  God. 
She  had  lived  for  some  years  in  Rogersville, 
Tennessee,  with  her  elder  sister,  Lavinia,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  William  A.  Walker.  Her  health 
never  had  been  vigorous,  and  she  was  the 
first  of  the  family  that  was  called  to  follow 
the  parents  to  the  land  where  "  the  weary  are 
at  rest.'*  All  Mary's  grandchildren,  who 
have  arrived  at  the  age  of  mature  life,  are 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church;  two 
of  her  grand-daughters  have  married  Presby 
terian  ministers,  and  three  of  her  grandsons 
are  preparing  to  enter  the  ministry  in  the 
same  church. 

The  question  has  been  asked  sometimes, 
"  To  what  are  we  to  attribute  this  marked  and 
happy  result  in  this  family?"  Perhaps  it 
never  can  be  satisfactorily  answered.  The 
only  answer  may  be,  "  Even  so,  Father,  for 


160   THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY. 

60  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  But  so  far 
as  second  causes  are  concerned,  there  are 
some  considerations  which  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  mention,  as  tending  to  the  solution  of  this 
question. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  did  not  bring  up  their 
children  for  this  world.  In  their  whole  inter 
course  with  their  family,  they  made  it  evident 
to  them  that  their  great  and  ever  present 
concern  was  that  their  children  should  serve 
God.  They  did  not  neglect  to  attend  to  their 
worldly  interests,  but  they  were  careful  to  set 
before  them  in  their  daily  walk,  and  in  all 
their  conversation,  the  infinite  importance  of 
serving  God,  and  the  comparative  unimport 
ance  of  all  the  wealth  and  honours  of  this 
world.  The  father  once  said  to  one  of  the 
beloved  elders  of  his  church,  in  the  hearing 
of  his  oldest  son,  then  quite  a  youth,  without 
knowing  that  the  remark  was  heard  by  him, 
"  I  have  no  wish  that  my  children  should  be 
wealthy,  or  rise  to  places  of  worldly  distinc 
tion  ;  but  it  is  the  ever  anxious  desire  of  my 
heart  that  they  shall  be  pious,  and  consecrate 
themselves  to  God's  service,  and  I  daily  feel 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.     161 

that  1  can  trust  him  to  provide  for  them." 
Several  years  after  the  date  of  this  conver 
sation,  he  had  serious  thoughts  of  removing 
westward  to  the  region  bordering  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  visited  that  section  of  country. 
After  his  return,  in  assigning  the  reasons 
that  determined  his  mind  not  to  remove  there, 
he  said  that  he  was  not  willing  to  bring  up 
his  family  in  the  state  of  morals  which  existed 
in  that  region,  and  run  the  risk  to  which  his 
children  would  be  exposed.  These  incidents 
indicate  distinctly  what  his  views  were.  The 
views  of  the  mother  and  father  perfectly  co 
incided.  To  the  oldest  son  she  once  said, 
when  urging  on  him  the  claims  of  God  for  the 
affections  of  his  heart,  and  the  service  of  his 
life,  "  Ever  since  we  have  had  any  children, 
your  father  and  I  have  often  kneeled  by  your 
bed  when  you  were  asleep,  and  solemnly  dedi 
cated  you  to  God  and  his  service."  This 
feeling  thus  expressed  by  both  parents,  was 
carried  out  in  their  whole  course  of  action 
toward  their  children,  and  for  them ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  future 
result  is  to  be  attributed  to  this. 
14* 


162      THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

The  death  of  the  father  while  most  of  the 
children  were  quite  young,  devolved  on  the 
mother  the  duty  of  attending  to  their  educa 
tion  for  several  years,  and  most  faithfully  did 
she  discharge  it.  An  extract  from  a  sermon 
on  the  subject  of  education,  delivered  before 
the  Lexington  Presbytery  by  a  member  of 
that  body,  in  which  allusion  is  made  to  her, 
may  be  introduced  here  as  illustrating  this 
point. 

"I  was  once  acquainted  with  an  eminently 
pious  mother,  who  was  left  a  widow  with  a 
family  of  ten  children,  the  oldest  only  nine 
teen  years  of  age.  Soon  after  her  husband's 
death,  she  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  some  of 
the  oldest  unite  themselves  with  the  church 
of  Christ.  Her  own  health  soon  failed,  and 
it  became  evident  that  she  had  almost  finished 
her  course  on  earth.  No  one  discovered  this 
sooner  than  she  did  herself.  For  at  least  a 
year  previous  to  her  death  she  often  con 
versed  freely  with  her  friends  on  the  subject. 
She  was  calm  and  composed.  Death  had  no 
terror  to  her.  She  knew  that  if  her  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  she 


THE    CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY.     163 

had  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made 
•with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  But 
whilst  she  had  no  anxiety  for  herself,  her 
heart  yearned  with  all  the  strength  of  mater 
nal  tenderness  over  her  children,  soon  to  be 
left  in  this  world  of  sin  and  temptation  with 
out  either  father  or  mother.  She  often  talked 
to  me  on  this  subject  with  the  tears  flowing 
over  her  pale  cheeks.  She  never  expressed 
the  least  desire  that  her  children  might  pos 
sess  the  riches,  the  honours,  or  the  pleasures 
of  this  world;  but  she  did  express  the  most 
earnest  anxiety  that  they  might  be  well  edu 
cated,  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  be 
come  true  Christians,  glorify  God  on  earth, 
and  be  prepared  for  heaven.  I  have  every 
reason  to  know  that  she  ceased  not  to  pray 
for  her  children  as  long  as  she  had  breath. 
One  of  the  most  affecting  scenes  I  ever  wit 
nessed  took  place  three  or  four  days  before 
her  death.  When  she  found  that  her  strength 
was  fast  failing,  and  that  the  time  of  her  de 
parture  was  at  hand,  she  caused  her  servants 
to  be  called  around  her  bed,  gave  them  her 
dying  counsel,  suited  to  the  character  and  age 


J64     THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S    VALLEY. 

of  each,  and  then  bade  them  farewell.  After 
this  she  had  her  children  called  to  her,  be 
ginning  with  the  oldest,  and  most  solemnly 
and  affectionately  counselled  and  exhorted 
them  to  serve  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers, 
and  then  looking  on  the  four  youngest  with 
inexpressible  tenderness,  first  committed  them 
to  her  covenant-keeping  God,  and  then  to 
those  who  had  promised  her  that  as  far  as 
God  would  enable  them,  they  would  act 
toward  them  the  part  of  earthly  parents. 
She  directed  that  a  Bible  should  be  given  to 
each  of  them  as  a  legacy  from  their  mother. 
I  saw  that  mother  die.  Her  end  was  peace. 
Her  departure  was  like  the  sun  setting  in  a 
clear  summer  evening,  calm,  peaceful,  beau 
tiful,  glorious.  I  have  lived  to  see  all  her 
children  members  of  the  church,  five  of  them 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  one  a  valuable  elder 
in  the  church,  and  all  I  trust  following  her 
footsteps  to  heaven.  I  need  not  tell  some 
who  hear  me  who  that  mother  was." 

When  she  was  taken  away,  and  that  which 
she  had  so  wisely  commenced  and  so  faith 
fully  attended  to  devolved  on  the  Rev.  Mr. 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB'S  VALLEY.   165 

Morrison  and  his  wife,  it  was  carried  on  in 
the  same  spirit.  The  younger  children  of 
the  family  owe  very  much  to  them. 

Another  thing  which  deserves  notice  from 
the  influence  which  it  exerted  in  this  matter, 
is  the  character  of  the  community  in  which 
this  family  grew  up.  Of  the  population  c:zn- 
posing  the  congregation  of  New  Providence, 
it  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  a  more  orderly, 
pious  population  can  hardly  be  found  in  the 
United  States.  It  has  been  so  from  the  first 
settlement  of  that  section  of  the  country.  It 
is  a  plain,  intelligent,  contented  community. 
Not  much  of  wealth  has  ever  existed  amongst 
them,  and  still  less  of  poverty.  They  have 
lived  in  the  possession  of  comfortable  inde 
pendence,  with  very  little  anxiety  for  any 
thing  more.  From  a  very  early  period  they 
have  b^en  blessed  with  an  able  ministry. 
The  consequence  of  all  these  influences  has 
been,  that  the  gathering  of  whole  families 
into  the  communion  of  the  church  has  not 
been  an  unfrequent  thing  in  that  congrega 
tion.  In  this  community  where  there  was  so 
little  to  counteract,  and  so  much  to  enforce 


166     THE    CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S   VALLEY. 

the  influence  of  the  instruction  given  to  this 
family,  and  of  the  example  set  before  them, 
it  was  their  happy  lot  to  spend  the  first  years 
of  their  lives,  and  form  their  characters.  The 
result  is  not  surprising.  In  many  other  cases 
where  there  may  be  unquestioned,  and  even 
ardent  piety  in  the  parents,  there  is  seen  in 
their  conduct  a  marked  and  eager  grasping 
after  the  things  of  this  world,  and  in  their 
conversation  before  their  children  an  import 
ance  is  attached  to  them,  which  fills  the  youth 
ful  mind  with  false  ideas  of  their  value,  and 
fixes  the  desires  on  them  so  inordinately,  that 
they  are  not  likely  to  seek  first  the  kingdom 
^6f  God  and  his  righteousness. 

And  whv/re  there  is  no  defect,  either  in 
parental  instruction  or  example,  other  perni 
cious  influences  may  be  brought  to  bear  with 
ruinous  effect,  while  the  moral  character  is 
forming  for  future  life  and  for  eternity.  "  Lot 
dwelled  in  the  cities  of  the  plain,  and  pitched 
his  tent  towards  Sodom.  But  the  men  of 
Sodom  were  wicked,  and  sinners  before  the 
Lord  exceedingly."  And  while  his  righteous 
soul  was  vexed  with  the  filthy  conversation 


THE   CAPTIVES   OF   ABB'S    VALLEY.      167 

of  the  wicked,  his  children  were  brought  up 
in  this  ungodly  society.  The  deplorable  re 
sult  is  seen  in  the  disastrous  history  of  his 
family.  And  in  numberless  instances  in  this 
day,  similar  consequences  are  seen  to  the  un 
speakable  grief  of  pious  parents,  and  the 
scandal  of  the  church  of  God.  Parents  who, 
for  the  sake  of  worldly  advantages,  place  their 
families  in  the  midst  of  prevailing  ungodli 
ness,  and  as  is  too  often  the  case,  where  they 
are  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  the  faith 
ful  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  exposed  to 
the  constant  influence  of  wicked  associates, 
are  endangering  the  souls  of  their  children 
in  a  fearful  degree.  It  is  no  wonderful'  thin0 
if  they  live  in  sin,  become  scoffers  at  sacred 
things,  and  pierce  with  many  sorrows  the 
souls  of  those  who  have  placed  them  in  the 
midst  of  strong  and  constant  temptations. 
There  are  no  promises  more  explicit  than 
those  annexed  to  the  covenant,  "  I  will  be  a 
God  to  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." 
But  to  secure  the  blessings,  parents  must 
pursue  the  course  of  conduct  which  always 
points  to  them,  and  is  calculated  to  lay  hold 
of  them. 


168  THE  CAPTIVES  OF  ABB*S  VALLEY. 

In  1849  one  of  the  sons  of  this  family 
visited  Abb's  Valley.  Part  of  a  letter  writ 
ten  after  his  return  forms  not  an  unsuitable 
conclusion  to  the  tale  recorded  in  the  fore 
going  pages.  "  While  I  was  with  our  rela 
tions  in  the  Valley,  I  counted  up  the  de 
scendants  of  the  three  children  of  our  grand 
father.  There  are  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
now  living.  Most  of  the  grand-children  who 
have  come  to  the  years  of  mature  life  are 
members  of  the  church,  giving  pleasing  evi 
dence  of  piety.  0  my  brother,  may  we  not 
look  on  this  as  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
our  grandmother,  when  amidst  the  flames  she 
committed  the  little  remnant  of  her  murdered 
family  to  a  covenant-keeping  God  ?  And 
how  much  richer  is  the  legacy  to  her  descend 
ants  than  all  the  world  beside  ! 

My  boast  is  not  that  I  deduce  ray  birth 
From  loins  enthroned,  and  rulers  of  the  earth; 
But  higher  far  my  proud  pretensions  rise, 
The  son  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies."' 

THE   END. 


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